Flames of Cleansing
by Epic Ebi
Summary: A Hollow terrorises the Tower of Heaven as Natsu and Jellal square off. Squad 5 Lieutenant Momo Hinamori goes to unsuccessfully purify it. With no way to stop the monster from killing everyone, Momo makes a drastic decision that involves the Fire Dragon Slayer. Looks like the pendulum of fate is starting to swing the other way. Takes place in episode 40 of FT, episode 1 of Bleach.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Burn it to the ground, Substitute Soul Reaper!

**(A/N: If you're reading this, then I must have intrigued you with this crossover. What I've noticed on this site is that not too many of the crossovers in this category include a mixture of characters from both of the series. My **_**Code Geass/Fairy Tail **_**crossover **_**Fairy Chess**_** is guilty of this as well.**

**Well that's about to change here. This won't be like anything you've ever seen before. Read and find out.)**

**I do not own **_**Fairy Tail **_**or **_**Bleach**_**. All rights go to their respective copyright owners. The dialogue from episode 40 and 41 are accredited to FUNimation.**

* * *

"He's aiming…" Erza muttered, resting on her elbows. "…at the Tower…!"

Natsu Dragneel landed on his feet, standing upon broken pieces of the Tower of Heaven that he made. Looking up at an enraged Jellal Fernandes, he smirked and chuckled quietly to himself as smoke floated around his general area.

Jellal clenched his fists furiously. He growled, "_Now I'm angry._ I didn't spend years building this Tower just to have some _punk_ tear it down! I won't let you!"

Natsu laughed as he lazily got up to his feet. He held his stomach. "Tough break pal. But you can't say I didn't warn ya! I told you destroyin' stuff is…one of my specialties."

Erza thought inwardly, still quite surprised, _Be careful Natsu, you're weak. You barely have the strength to stand._

Jellal yelled at the top of his lungs, "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" He threw his arms above his head; his hands crossed over each other. A golden magic circle with a star in the middle appeared, and then disappeared as wind kicked up wildly, forcing Natsu to cover his face with his arms. Erza found it difficult to keep herself on the ground. All of the shadows at the top of the Tower bent towards Jellal's position, shocking the knight.

"Whoa, what weird's going on with this magic!?" Natsu exclaimed. "It's making me feel sick!"

Erza observed what was happening with her shadow, shock spelt over his face. "With my shadow bending towards the light… That spell! It can kill Natsu!"

Wind quickly circulated around Jellal's body. "_And now, I will plunge you into infinite darkness, Dragon Slayer!_" A black hole formed above the azure-haired's head.

"DON'T DO IT!" Erza leapt to her feet and stood in front of her best friend, shocking him, screaming, "UNLESS YOU WANT TO KILL ME TOO!"

Jellal hesitated slightly and noticed the determined look in Titania's eyes. He stopped the attack, but kept his stance.

"You don't want to lose your sacrifice to Zeref, do you?" Erza asked sternly.

Jellal admitted, "That would be a problem. The ceremony requires the body of a wizard comparable in strength to one of the Ten Wizard Saints. However…" Jellal's eyes were shielded by his hair as he continued. "I can find a suitable replacement. You're not the only one who fits that bill."

Erza flinched, not having realized that.

"I'll worry about that AFTER I KILL BOTH OF YOU!" The wind rushed violently once again as Jellal re-casted his spell, the black hole appearing once again. The size grew larger.

Natsu warned Erza, "Watch out! What are you doing!?"

Erza smiled as she answered loud enough to be heard over the wind, "It's my fault that you're involved in this mess. The least I can do is protect you!"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Natsu cried out.

Jellal smirked wickedly. "Heavenly Body Magic: ALTAIRIS!" He was about to chuck the attack at the two Fairy Tail wizards-

But a monstrous roar bellowed throughout the Tower of Heaven, stopping Jellal from attacking and letting the spell disappear. Natsu and Erza heard it as well and were extremely confused. Neither of them knew what that roar was, but it didn't sound normal.

That was when a large beast with a white mask crashed onto the top floor of the Tower.

* * *

**Earlier, at the Soul Society…**

"Captain Aizen, you wanted to see me?" It was Lieutenant Momo Hinamori of Squad 5, talking to Aizen in his living quarters, which simply had a table and a paint brush to use for calligraphy. She was standing at his door while the Captain was sitting at the small table.

"Ah Momo, good. I see you got my message," said Aizen with his suave and smooth voice. "I have a special mission for you."

"Yes?"

"Do you know of the Dangai Precipice World?" Aizen asked.

Momo thought about it for a moment before answering, "Yes, I do know. Did you need me to go and investigate it? But, what about getting Head Captain Yamamoto's permission?"

"No, not at all. And don't worry; I already worked it out with the Head Captain a few days ago."

"Oh, I see. So what was it you wanted me to do?"

"I need you to go through there to another world by yourself. I've been informed that a large group of Hollows were let loose there, and I want you to handle it for me." Aizen smiled. "Of course, I won't force you to do it if you're not ready."

Momo waved her hands in front of her. "No no! I can do it for you, Captain Aizen! Please!" She bowed respectfully. "Let me do this for you!"

_So easy to manipulate,_ Aizen thought quietly to himself. "Excellent. I can have you out there in one hour. Make sure you meet me near the First Squad barracks in forty-five minutes. I will fill you in on the rest of the details when you arrive."

Momo stood up straight again and smiled brightly. "Thank you, Captain!"

* * *

**Tower of Heaven, present time**

The Hollow looked very much like a gigantic gorilla crossed with a prehistoric pterodactyl's head and wings. It was green, and the head was its mask. Its eyes pierced through the dust it created from its landing.

All of the wizards on top of the Tower stared in disbelief at the sight in front of them. When the Hollow noticed their staring, he commented, "This is interesting. It looks like you can all see me."

Natsu stuttered, "I-It can talk!?"

"Of course I can talk!" the Hollow confirmed with slight annoyance. "What? You've never seen a Hollow before?"

"A Hollow…?" Erza repeated to herself. "What's that…?"

"Unbelievable." The Hollow shook its head as it raised its Spiritual Pressure, causing everyone except Jellal (who was hunching over slightly) to collapse straight to their knees. "Oh well," the Hollow said exasperatedly. "You all have high Spiritual Power, so I don't care." He looked at Erza. "You look tasty. I'll try you first!"

The Hollow charged at Erza, who was so weak from the Spiritual Pressure that she couldn't move. _This isn't good! I can't move!_

"ERZA!" cried out a voice as it stood in front of her-

Before being chomped on by the Hollow.

Erza, hearing the voice, lifted her head to see what stopped the Hollow. When she saw who saved her, her eyes widened and she was left speechless. "N-No…!"

It was Simon.

The Hollow's teeth pierced Simon's skin from the waist as his entire upper body, minus his arms, was inside the Hollow's mouth. Simon bled uncontrollably. "E-Erza… I…"

And with that, the Hollow swallowed Simon completely.

Simon was now dead.

Erza cried from her left eye as her mouth was left open, gaping. Natsu and Jellal saw what Simon did and stared in silence as Erza began to wale pitifully. Natsu got up from all fours with his head hung low.

Natsu growled under his breath. "_You… How dare you…?_" He smashed his fists together and engulfed them in ferocious flames. "_...HOW DARE YOOOUUUU!?_" He punched the Hollow right in the centre of his mask with everything he could muster against the Pressure.

The Hollow flew back and landed on his back. But the mask wasn't damaged at all by Natsu's flames. The Dragon Slayer didn't care; he was too livid to notice his attack was ineffective.

The Hollow got up onto his feet and shook his head before laughing. "You idiot! I'm immune to fire-based attacks! Nothing you throw at me will do any good!"

Jellal looked at the spectacle quietly as he thought to himself, _That Simon… What a complete fool. No matter. If the Dragon Slayer can't beat this 'Hollow' or whatever it's called, then I will simply deal with it myself. But this better be quick. I don't have time to waste anymore; I have to sacrifice Erza before this Tower falls apart. Or maybe, just maybe, I won't need this Tower in particular…_

Natsu threw dozens of flame-induced punches at the Hollow, successfully hitting it once or twice as it kept dodging. When the Hollow saw an opening, he reeled back his right fist and nailed Natsu in the gut, knocking the Dragon Slayer into the air and landing on his back.

Erza, still crying, looked up at the Dragon Slayer on the ground. "N-Natsu…" She sobbed. She looked at Jellal standing there calmly. She cried out to him, "Aren't you going to do something about this!? This _thing_ will destroy the Tower if you don't do something!"

Jellal heard Erza and just snickered loudly. "Oh I wouldn't worry about that, my dear Erza. If things keep going this way, then the Dragon Wizard will fall, and then I will take care of things from here. Also, I don't care about this Tower. If it gets destroyed, then I can get everyone to rebuild it again. But this time, it'll take _five_ years to complete." He laughed like a madman.

Erza was too stunned to reason with him further.

Natsu got up onto his feet and charged at the Hollow again, but he couldn't land a solid hit on him. "Alright then, try this! FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!" A large explosion of fire hit the Hollow and destroyed another part of the Tower, but it still didn't do anything. "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" The flaming breath hit the Hollow right on target, but it still didn't do anything.

"This is getting really boring, flame breath. I want to eat all of you here, so let's hurry up." The Hollow rushed Natsu and head-butted him into a crystal pillar. Natsu fell back down onto his stomach.

"Crap…!" Natsu muttered through gritted teeth. "This is…insane!"

Erza tried to stand up again, but the increase in Spiritual Pressure stopped her again. Jellal was starting to feel the Pressure a lot more significantly, and got down to one knee when it was too much.

The Hollow began to walk up to the Dragon Slayer slowly. "I must admit you have spirit, no pun intended. But you won't beat me if that's all you got. I'm surprised that a human like you has the power to wield fire like that. But hey, Soul Reapers are nearly the same in that regard." He stopped in front of Natsu, his shadow cast over the wizard as he picked him up by the throat with his right hand. "You'll make a fine meal indeed."

Jellal smirked wildly. Erza looked on in terror. Natsu growled in defiance.

"This is where it ends for you!" The Hollow went to devour Natsu-

"Hado Number 33: Sokatsui!" A torrent of blue fire smashed into the Hollow's side and sent it flying in Jellal's general direction, forcing him to dodge to the right.

Everyone looked at the source of the young female's voice and saw Squad 5 Lieutenant Hinamori with her left hand out in front of her. She dashed over to Erza and knelt down at her side. "Are you alright?"

Erza looked at Momo strangely. "Who…? Where…?" She was at a loss for words.

"I'll explain later." Momo got up onto her feet and drew her Zanpakuto. "You there!" she called out to Natsu. "Can you still walk?"

Natsu gave Momo the same look as Erza did, but nodded as he got up onto his feet and brushed his hands on his pants. "Yeah. I'm alright."

Jellal asked Momo with a serious tone, "Who are you?"

Momo met his gaze and answered, "I'm Squad 5 Lieutenant, Momo Hinamori. Now stand back." She raised her sword and declared her release command. "Snap, Tobiume." Her body glowing with red aura and sakura petals sweeping past her, her blade solidified to now have three prongs on it. She fired a ball of fire instantly at the Hollow. Since she didn't hear him point out he was resistant to fire, she didn't expect the beast to appear out of the smoke and punch her in the gut, sending her flying.

She regained air control, and used the reishi in the air to keep her floating. _What the…? He wasn't affected by Tobiume at all! Meaning he might be resistant to fire._ She sealed her Zanpakuto and said a small incantation. "Hado Number 4: Byakurai!" A stream of lightning followed the Hollow, who dodged and charged at Momo-

But got his leg caught by Natsu, and was slammed into the ground by him. "You're not getting away from me, ya got that!?" He jumped up into the air and came crashing down onto the Hollow's back. "I'll show you not to mess with me and my friends!"

The Hollow used Sonido to get out from underneath Natsu, who didn't know where he went. The Hollow reappeared behind him and struck his back with a Cero, sending the Dragon Slayer flying forward and down to the ground.

Momo used Flash Step and appeared in front of the Hollow to stab its mask, but the Hollow dodged backwards and fired a Cero. Momo blocked it in the nick of time, but was still pushed back next to Natsu. Once the Cero dissipated, she chanted, "Hado Number 73: Soren Sokatsui!" A more powerful version of Sokatsui was fired at the Hollow at blinding speed. The Hollow fired another Cero to stop the Hado's advance.

"It's useless!" The Hollow used Sonido again and appeared in front of Momo and stomped his foot on her, crushing her into the Tower's debris. He picked her up with his large right hand-

Natsu leapt over and punched the Hollow in the face, finally cracking the mask a little bit before getting swiped away by his left arm. Natsu fell pathetically on his side, hurting all over. "Damn it…!" He grunted as he tried to move, but to no avail. "This guy…is too strong."

Momo drew her Zanpakuto and sliced downwards onto the mask, but the Hollow used Sonido again to move back a few metres. He fired another Cero, but Momo used Flash Step to get up into the air and try to stab her Zanpaukto into the small crack.

But it failed again, as the Hollow side-stepped and grabbed the Lieutenant by her leg, and then slammed her continuously into the ground; up and over his head again and again, causing her to cry out in pain. Satisfied, he threw her into Natsu's general direction. She fell down next to him.

Erza mustered as much strength as possible to get up onto her feet and re-quipped a sword in her hand. It was one of the swords for her Heaven's Wheel armour. She threw the blade at the Hollow with everything she had, and it pierced through the Hollow's left leg.

"GAH!" the Hollow roared in pain as he looked at the scarlet-haired woman with a deadly glare. She met his glare with her own, but she fell down back to her knees. "You stupid whore! For that, I'll eat you first!" He limped over slowly to Erza.

Momo found it hard to get up. The Hollow's attacks were too much for her to handle. She looked at Natsu and noticed he was getting up onto his feet with everything he had. He muttered, "Er…za… I…will…save you…"

She could feel Natsu's Spirit Energy start to rise a little. It felt… …strong. It felt safe yet dangerous. And then she had an idea. But could she really do it? Creating a Substitute Soul Reaper was illegal and very risky.

But more than anything, she wanted to complete this mission and stop the Hollow. And more importantly, she wanted to get back to her Captain's side.

"Hey," she called out. Natsu looked at her. "I have an idea, but it can be very risky."

Natsu listened in. "Go on."

Momo continued as she sat up straighter and held her Zanpakuto in front of Natsu. "What I will do is plunge my Zanpakuto into your chest. If you accept it, then you will be able to borrow my power."

Natsu was quite curious about that. Since he didn't know much about Soul Reapers and how their weapons worked, he didn't ask her anything about it. Right now, he wanted to go and save Erza. But seeing as how his fire wasn't working, and Momo was too badly injured, he walked up to her and held her sword at his chest. "Alright then. Do it."

"What's your name? I assume you still know mine."

"I'm Natsu; Natsu Dragneel."

Momo's blade pierced through the Dragon Slayer's heart without resistance. A large flash lit up the top of the Tower of Heaven; the sight visible from where the rest of Natsu's team was. It then subsided.

* * *

**At the same time in Karakura Town**

"You must take my Zanpakuto and run it through to the centre of your being so that I may pour my powers into you. I can't guarantee that you will live, but if it doesn't work it won't matter," Rukia said to Ichigo.

"Then give me that blade, Soul Reaper." Ichigo placed her Zanpakuto at his chest.

"My name is Rukia; Rukia Kuchiki," she said to him.

The hollow began charging towards the both of them.

"And my name is Ichigo Kurosaki," he introduced. He grabbed Rukia's blade and plunged it into his body.

* * *

**Tower of Heaven**

Natsu Dragneel stood tall and proud in his newly acquired Soul Reaper uniform, scowling. His sword was large, but it only reached down to the top of his calves. It was sheathed, with his right hand sitting on the handle. His living body was lying on the ground next to Momo, who couldn't feel a speck of her power anymore, which shocked her completely.

_No way, _she thought. _I didn't mean to give him all of my powers! How did he do that!?_

The Hollow stopped walking and turned to face Natsu. He was quite surprised at first, but then laughed out loud. "Look what we have here! You turned into a Soul Reaper!" He laughed again.

Jellal and Erza were equally shocked at the current development.

Natsu unsheathed his Zanpakuto and charged at blinding speed at the Hollow, inexpertly slicing the blade down on the Hollow's left side and shocking the beast as his wing and arm fell off of his body. The monster retreated and gauged Natsu's Spiritual Pressure. He was shocked to realize that Natsu's was a bit higher than his own. "I-Impossible…! How did you become stronger than me!?"

Natsu dashed and cut the Hollow's right side, yielding the same results, forcing it back again. "Easy." He threw the sword forward, reaching the Hollow's mask and piercing right through the centre. "I won't stop protecting my friends. If it means getting stronger, then that's what I'll do!"

The Hollow screeched as it exploded in a brilliant shower of glitter, and the Zanpakuto fell to the ground.

Jellal couldn't believe what he just saw. Natsu completely threw the Hollow off-guard and even overwhelmed him with speed and precision. "There's…no way…!"

Erza muttered to herself, "Natsu…"

Natsu sheathed his Zanpakuto and looked at Jellal. "We're not done yet."

Jellal's fists shook in fear and anger as he growled lividly, "Don't get so cocky now that you're a Soul Reaper! _I'LL SMASH YOU TO PIECES!_"

Natsu charged at blinding speed and kneed Jellal in the gut, forcing him to reel back. Natsu flew up to the ceiling and came back down; pushing Jellal, he threw him to the lower floors of the Tower. Jellal screamed as the pain from the floors affected him greatly as they broke on impact.

Jellal glared fiercely like Natsu was doing. "Your power doesn't scare me. _METEOR!_" He flew past Natsu with great speed and upwards to the air. Natsu grunted as he turned his body to face him, and running his hands through falling debris to shoot himself back up.

Jellal, smiling, declared arrogantly, "You'll never be able to catch me at this rate of speed."

Natsu jumped higher and higher by pushing off more chunks of debris. He roared and set his body ablaze, shocking Jellal before getting nailed in the stomach, forcing him to gag as he smashed through the top floor again. Erza looked at where Jellal broke through with surprise.

"I WON'T LOSE!" He kicked Natsu away from him when he came close. "Not to you!" Natsu's back hit another wall of the Tower, winding him. Jellal reached the other wall and pushed himself up into the air. "I am destined to create a land of freedom!"

Natsu growled at Jellal as he stood up straight again.

"I know because in my darkest hour I could hear Lord Zeref calling out to me!" Memories of his childhood when he was restrained flashed in Jellal's mind. "He told me he could make all my dreams come true and I believe him! There's a reason I'm the only one who can sense Zeref's presence. It's because I am the chosen one! Once he's been resurrected we will work together to create a land that's truly free!"

"And you're gonna do that, BY TAKING AWAY THE RIGHTS OF EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD!?" Natsu countered.

"If that's what has to be done in order to change this world into a better place, then so _be it_!" Jellal declared while forcing Natsu to dodge his magic beams. The Dragon Slayer eventually crawled onto the wall Jellal jumped off earlier. "I couldn't care less what happens to feeble-minded fools like you!" He drew a star in the air with his golden magic, calling upon a bronze-coloured magic circle.

Natsu, Erza and Momo were shocked. Erza figured out what he was doing. "He's casting the Abyss Break! But why!? You'll destroy the Tower so many died to create!"

Jellal smirked as he explained, "I thought I told you that this Tower means nothing to me anymore. Now that I've done it once I can build another in half the time! Lord Zeref! Your world is near-!" A sharp pain jolted through Jellal's stomach, and he remembered what Erza did to him when they first reunited. The spell was dismissed as Jellal held his gut and descended. "Dah!"

Natsu flew high into the air by propelling his feet his fire, not bothering to draw his Zanpakuto. "YOU'LL NEVER KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE FREE!" He engulfed his entire body in flames as well. "NOT AS LONG AS YOU'RE POSSESSED BY THAT SPIRIT! WHY ARE YOU LETTING IT MANIPULATE YOU!?"

Jellal's shocked face stared at the hurling body of fire that resembled a flaming dragon.

"You can do it Jellal! FREE YOURSELF!" He nailed Jellal in the face, screaming at the top of his lungs. Jellal screamed at the pain and crashed straight into the Tower's lower floors, kicking up mountains of dust and debris. The Tower began to explode in several different spots. The ocean and the Tower shook violently.

* * *

From a long way away, those who left the Tower saw what was happening from inside Juvia's bubble. Sho asked, "What in the world is going on?"

Wally asked also, "Was that another explosion?"

Everyone was a bit worried about what was happening. Happy answered, "No way, that's gotta be Natsu!"

Lucy agreed. "You're right; he must be up there fighting someone."

Millianna was concerned as well. "Oh no… Do you think that he'll…be okay?"

"I sure hope so," said Grey. "But it's still too soon to tell, 'cause it looks like he's gone on a major rampage."

* * *

Back at the Tower, Jellal laid on the ground in defeat, not moving from his spot. His badge as a Wizard Saint bounced off a piece of the Tower. There was no way he would be able to fight back.

Natsu came crashing down on the Tower hard, kicking up dust again. Erza looked at where Natsu landed as he began to stand up straight. _So this is the power…_ Erza thought. _…hidden within him. A combined form…of the Dragon Slayer, and a Soul Reaper._

Natsu walked over to Momo (who was sitting up and holding his real body) while Erza thought again, _He was able to defeat Jellal._

When Momo got Natsu into his body, he got up and looked at Erza normally. He laughed a little bit, making Erza glad.

_I can't believe that after all these years, the nightmare is over. Now Sho and the others can finally be…_

Natsu collapsed onto his knees, and Momo got up and caught Natsu. Erza cried out, "Natsu!" She got up and ran over to the Dragon Slayer. She got down to his level and hugged him, holding his head against her collarbone. "I knew you'd find your inner strength. You're amazing."

Momo smiled sweetly. "Are you okay?"

Erza looked at the Lieutenant and nodded. "I just realized that I haven't told you my name, Miss Hinamori. I'm Erza Scarlet."

"Call me Momo. It's nice to meet you, Erza."

Their introduction was cut short as the Tower began to shake and have blue beams fire out of the structure.

* * *

"Nyu, so pretty!" Millianna said cheerfully.

"This is bad news," said Wally.

Juvia pointed out, "There's an incredible amount of magic energy resonating from that light."

"That's not a good sign," Grey said. "The Ethernano at the Tower must be getting out of control!"

Lucy looked at Grey. "What!? What is that?"

Sho explained. "Magic energy from the Etherion."

Happy looked greatly concerned. "It's dangerous for that much of it to be contained in one place for too long 'cause the energy will keep building until it becomes unstable."

Juvia realized what would happen. "With nowhere to go the Ethernano will keep growing till it bursts, causing a tremendous explosion."

The members that worked on the Tower were now extremely worried.

"What!?" exclaimed Wally. "We better stop it in its track or else we're dead meat!"

"But what about the others trapped inside!?" Sho questioned, panicking.

Grey scowled. "At this point there's no sense in worrying about who's going to make it out there alive and who's not. Because if that Tower explodes it'll wipe us all out!"

* * *

The blue beams began to shoot out of the ground at the others' location. Erza began to carry Natsu on her own, while Momo stood next to her. They looked at each other and nodded. "Let's go!" they exclaimed simultaneously as they sprinted to get off the Tower. A beam shot out in Erza's line of sight, forcing her to move left. She didn't see the other beam, and she fell over trying not to get hit by it. She dropped Natsu while falling.

"Erza!" Momo cried out as she made it back to her. "Are you okay?"

Erza got up on all fours as blue sludge circled around their location. _The lacrima can't contain this much magic energy. It's transforming. I can't imagine how much destructive power it has. Even if we made it outside the Tower we'd still be caught in the explosion!_ She slammed her fist into the ground. "No!"

"It's over, isn't it?" Momo asked, catching Erza's attention. "There's no way we'll be able to get off this tower. I can tell by your expression."

The sludge solidified as Erza thought to herself while getting up onto her feet, _What am I saying? I can't give up!_ She looked at Natsu, who was still knocked out on the ground. _Natsu… Now it's my turn to save you._ Another beam erupted near their location. The dust forced Erza to shield her eyes, same with Momo. _There's no way to contain the blast or escape it! Then what am I going to do!?_

A thought occurred to her as she remembered something Jellal said to her. _"The magic energy held within this lacrima, must now be fused with my sacrifice. Once that happens your flesh will begin to break down and reconstruct itself, into Zeref's body."_

_That's it! _Erza looked at the nearest crystal wall and stared at her reflection. _If I fuse my body with the magic energy inside the lacrima, I might be able to control it and keep it from exploding!_

"Erza, is something wrong?" Momo asked.

Erza looked at Momo and said to her, "Take Natsu with you and get out of here. I'm going to stop it myself."

Momo was shocked. "What? But Erza, how…? Won't it be risky?"

"It's alright." She placed her hand on the wall. "It's a risk I'll have to take." She pushed her hand through it slowly, causing her to cry out in pain for a moment.

"Erza, don't do it!"

Erza ignored her. "Good! I was worried that it might reject me." She strained herself to keep quiet and accept the pain.

Natsu stirred awake slowly and saw what Erza was doing. Her arm was inside the lacrima up to her elbow. "Er…Erza…?"

Erza was knocked out of her concentration and looked behind her. "Natsu!"

"Hey… What are you doing?" he asked, confused. "I don't get it. Are you trying…to go back inside that thing?"

"She is," Momo confirmed, shocking Natsu. "If she is able to fuse with this tower, then she should be able to stop it somehow. That is what she's planning."

"!" Natsu looked back at Erza with wide eyes.

Erza defended her reason. "I don't have a choice; it's the only way I'll ever be able to stop it!"

"What are you talking about; stop what?" He then felt the ground shake underneath him.

"Now you see…" Erza continued. "It's the Ethernano. If it continues to gain power, the lacrima won't be able to contain it and the whole place will explode. But if I fuse my body with the magic energy I can prevent that from happening."

Natsu got up on all fours and said, "I'm not going to let you do that! There's got to be another way to stop it!"

Erza screamed as she was taken further into the lacrima, and Natsu, yelling, "Erza!", ran over to her, tripping half-way. "After all this I'll stop it; there's no need to worry. I'm determined to save all of you!"

"Ah! NO!"

Erza was taken further into the lacrima crying out in agony. Natsu crawled his way over furiously. "Don't do it…!" But he stopped just short in front of Erza.

"I have to…" Erza got her hand out and touched Natsu's cheek. She smiled genuinely as balls of blue light formed in the air around them. "I can't even imagine what my life would've been like without Fairy Tail. If it weren't for you and the others, I probably wouldn't be here today. I hope you know…how important you all are to me. I care for you so much."

Natsu stared at her with his mouth open. "Erza…"

Erza laughed ever so slightly as her hand drifted away from Natsu's face. He tried to say something, but he couldn't get any of the words out. He felt helpless.

"That's why I'm willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. If it means my friends' lives will be spared, I'll gladly give my life." She became completely engulfed by the lacrima.

"!" Natsu looked on without able to do a thing. He got up and started banging his fists against the lacrima, but to no avail. "NO WAY! COME OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW!"

Erza floated away. _Natsu… Please watch over everyone for me._

"…YOU CAN'T LEAVE US! NO! NO!"

_I promise you. I'll always be there by your side._ She smiled one last time before she disappeared into a bright light.

Natsu cried uncontrollably, and so did Momo. He screamed, "EEERRRZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The ground and the whole area exploded in blue light, engulfing Natsu and Momo in its radius.

* * *

"Holy crap! It's exploding!" Wally exclaimed, incredibly shocked. Millianna was so scared of the explosion she grabbed Wally's shirt and cowered.

Grey said to them, "No it's not! Take a closer look! The magic energy is moving upwards out of the Tower, into the sky!"

Lucy gasped at the awe-inspiring sight.

The Tower stopped firing magic into the air. The result left a shockwave that made the ocean waves move like crazy. Everyone in Juvia's bubble screamed as they were being swept away. Trinity Raven also saw the Tower from a long way from them.

Happy asked, shocked, "Where'd the Tower go!?"

"It was just there a second ago!" Sho didn't know where it went either.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out. "Where are you!?"

The Tower of Heaven disappeared off the face of the Earth.

* * *

_I never thought things would turn out this way… I wanted to save them! So they could go along living happily. I never meant to hurt them like this!_

A golden light shone on her, forcing her to turn around and look at the source. Suddenly, a hand appeared.

And then everything went white.

* * *

Erza opened her eyes calmly, and was shocked to see the ocean in its stand-still state, like nothing had moved a single drop of water. "Where am I?" she whispered. She turned her head and saw-

"Erza!" her friends called out to her, running through the water to reach her.

"Th-This doesn't make any sense." She looked at her hand, wondering, "Does this mean I'm…still alive?" She then realized someone was carrying her, and looked up to see a pink-haired Dragon Slayer with his bangs covering his eyes. "Natsu…!" _You saved me…again._ A single tear flowed from her working eye. _I was lost in that sea of magic energy…and you were still able to find me._

Natsu fell to his knees, still holding Erza bridal-style as the rest of their friends caught up with the duo. He placed her down.

But weren't there three of them? Erza tried to remember what happened at the Tower. Her memories said that Natsu ate the Etherion to defeat Jellal, and that Simon was killed trying to save Erza from Jellal's Altairis. She didn't recall seeing a third person there with them.

Dismissing the confusion for another time, Erza heard Natsu say to her, "I feel the same way you do." He was referring to when she said she couldn't imagine not being with Fairy Tail. "And I know everyone else does too."

Silence loomed over them before Natsu continued, "Promise me you won't do something like that again."

"I won't…"

"Promise!" Tears filled his eyes as he looked down at the water below him, hiding his face from Erza.

Erza lifted her hand to Natsu's cheek. "I promise…" She rested her forehead on Natsu's. "Thank you… …Natsu. This experience…has taught me a very important lesson… You don't die for your friends; you live for them." Tears flowed out of her right eye for the first time since it was fixed.

* * *

From the shoreline, hiding in secret, Momo saw the whole exchange between the two wizards and their friends, as they embrace each other and talk about how glad they were that Erza and Natsu were alright. It made her feel envious; how often did she see friends this loving toward each other? When she saw Natsu pull Erza out of the lacrima, she concluded this was her first time seeing such dedication.

She didn't like having to alter Erza's memories about what happened, but it was for the best. The only problem now was that Natsu had taken all of her Soul Reaper powers from her. Now she had to find out where Natsu lived and made sure to inform him about his duties as a Substitute Soul Reaper. She couldn't go back to the Soul Society either at this rate.

What would her Captain think of this?

A presence was made known behind Momo as she hid behind the trees. She turned around and saw a figure cloaked in shadow and wearing what made the person look like the Grim Reaper.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Relax," said a muffled voice, making it hard to distinguish whether it was a male or a female. "I come in peace. In fact, I am here to help you."

"Help me?"

"You have lost your Soul Reaper abilities, have you not?"

Momo asked, "How do you know about Soul Reapers?"

"Because I am one myself." The figure revealed the Zanpakuto in its right hand, confirming its statement. "I have a proposal to make to you."

"And what would that be?"

"Come and live with me in a place not too far from where your friends over there live, and I will help you try to regain your powers, and also help the Substitute Soul Reaper as he hunts Hollows in your leave. I expect nothing else in exchange, except for up-to-date knowledge on the Soul Society."

"So you wish to know who is a Captain and what events have influenced the Seireitei?"

"Exactly."

Momo pondered this for a moment, and concluded that she needed assistance in her job. "Alright then, take me with you."

"Excellent." The figure grabbed Momo by her side and held her close. "Hold on tight." The two of them left the area with Flash Step.

* * *

Days passed while Natsu slept like a log on the bed, covered in bandages. Grey, Lucy and Erza were sitting at a table in the same room as him.

"Do ya think he's going to be okay?" Grey asked with his arms folded.

"I can't believe he's been sleeping for the past three days," Lucy commented.

"Yeah well that's what he gets for eating all that Ethernano," Grey pointed out.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! I'LL SHOW YOU FOR LYING TO EVERYONE!" Natsu screamed while rising from his bed, before falling back down asleep again. It was obvious he was daydreaming.

Angered, Grey yelled, "That punk woke up just to pick a fight with me!?" It made Lucy laugh and Erza smile briefly before realizing what Natsu said.

_Wait a minute,_ she thought. _He said that what I told everyone wasn't true. Does that mean something else happened on the Tower that I can't remember?_ She tried again to remember what happened, but nothing else came up. _It must be my imagination…_

She said to Lucy, "I know I've already said this, but I'm sorry for causing such trouble."

Lucy looked at her friend and raised her hand in front of her. "Aww. You don't have to keep apologizing to us."

Leaving it at that, Erza turned her attention to Grey. "Where's your friend? I wanted to thank her."

"You're talking about Juvia? She left a while ago. She wanted to go to Fairy Tail to talk to Gramps about signing up to the guild."

The news surprised Erza. "I see."

* * *

And now, after saying good-bye to her friends and giving them the best send-off possible, all of the Fairy Tail members returned to Magnolia to see that the guild was finished being constructed. After all of their celebrations, introductions of the newest members Gajeel and Juvia, and finally, a song from Mirajane (and Gajeel, although his popularity varied), everyone returned home.

But Natsu had a guest at his door. And quite frankly, he wasn't expecting this person to be seen again. He thought maybe she went back to wherever she came from, but no. She was right there.

She was wearing the Soul Reaper uniform still, but it was cleaned up and knitted back together, void of any trace that she fought. Her hair was still tied up in the same fashion she always held it. But her Zanpakuto was missing.

Natsu stood there in shock as Happy asked questions about who the girl at his front door was, but he didn't hear any of them.

She spoke to him, "Hello Natsu Dragneel. I hope you remember who I am."

"You… You're from, the Tower…!" Natsu muttered, confusing Happy.

"Yes. I will say my name once more." She walked up to him and looked up slightly into his eyes. "I'm Momo Hinamori. I'm here to help you, Substitute Soul Reaper."

End of Chapter 1

* * *

**(A/N: What a cliff-hanger!**

**I would like to thank Kuroyagi, a great author for the **_**Fairy Tail**_** fanfic archive, for his beta skills in this chapter. He and I will work together to create an epic of a story. And I hope you will stick around to read it. You're probably thinking about these questions.**

**Who was that mysterious figure talking to Momo? What purpose does he/she hold? Why did Aizen send Momo to Earth Land? Did he anticipate this? And lastly, how will Natsu deal with going on jobs **_**and**_** dealing with Hollows lurking in Fiore?**

**Review and tell me what you think of this. I know that I retold canon for about a third or half of this fic, but it definitely helped set the story up. Even if you don't review, I'm going to work on this and keep posting chapters. ****But feedback helps.)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Never Meant to Belong

**(A/N: Welcome to the second chapter. I like to thank Kuroyagi for his beta reading skills; they are without a doubt impeccable (Kuroyagi: Are you trying to mock me or something? *laughs* Me: Maybe...). So, if this has a level of quality none of you have ever seen before from me, then that would be because of him, as well as my increasing writing skills. Not to sound arrogant, but I have been improving quite rapidly.**

**Enjoy reading about Natsu becoming a full-fledged Soul Reaper, as he will now learn how their world works.)**

**I do not own ****_Fairy Tail _****or ****_Bleach_****. All rights go to their respective copyright owners.**

* * *

Natsu stared, in shock, at the reappearance of Momo. He honestly thought she left to go back to wherever she came from, but she was standing right in front of him, looking into his eyes at that very moment. What was more confusing was that she appeared at his house. How did she know where he lived?

"Natsu, who is this person?" Happy asked curiously.

Momo, ignoring the fact that a flying cat just spoke, looked at Happy and answered, "My name is Momo Hinamori. I apologize, but Natsu and I have things to discuss in private. Can you please leave us?"

Natsu finally found something to say. "Hey, you can't talk to Happy like that! He's my friend!"

"I understand that, but even if I do let him accompany the two of us I can't be certain he will keep a secret."

The colour drained from Happy's face (metaphorically). It was true he couldn't keep secrets; the last time someone told him a secret he spread it across the entire guild. He wasn't the most trustworthy cat in the world, to say the least.

Natsu folded his arms in thought, agreeing that Happy really wasn't a secret-keeper. "Yeah, I guess you're right there."

Happy couldn't believe it. "You too, Natsu!?"

Momo persisted. "Please, Natsu, it's really important that you and I talk alone."

The Dragon Slayer sighed. "Fine." He looked at Happy. "Stay here. I'll be back soon."

His friend groaned. "You better repay me with fish when you're done."

Natsu chuckled. "Sure thing pal. Make sure no-one else knows where I've gone, okay?" He looked at Momo. "Where are we go-"

Without warning, Momo shoved her left hand into Natsu's face and pulled his soul out with the special glove she had on her. Not only did this scare the living daylights out of Happy, Natsu was completely caught off-guard by this as well.

He fell to his knees, clad in his Soul Reaper uniform and staring at his lifeless body as Momo picked him up onto his feet and said, "Come with me."

Happy frantically looked at Natsu's body on the ground and at the Natsu who was standing up in a black kimono. He didn't understand anything that just happened, so he was stunned into silence. Momo dragged Natsu along with her as they made their way to another location.

* * *

They arrived at an unknown location somewhere in the mountain range. It took Natsu and Momo about five hours to reach the place, there was no other way Momo could get there; she had to walk or run her way to Magnolia. Natsu couldn't use Flash Step, so that made things harder for the both of them.

Along the way, Natsu asked a lot of questions; namely what Momo was and what she did to him. She told him she was a Soul Reaper. She was sort of like a spirit guide for Pluses (which she explained were ordinary souls), while at the same time they were also tasked with hunting Hollows so that they don't eat every human alive. Natsu understood the last part as he remembered what happened to Simon.

He would rather not think about that again.

The Dragon Slayer then asked what his sword was all about, and Momo told him that was his 'Zanpakuto', or Soul Cutting sword: a weapon forged from the Soul Reaper's soul to perform 'Konso' or Soul Burial (Momo had to explain that to Natsu as well) and to slay Hollows (much like Natsu did at the Tower of Heaven). When he asked if there were other Soul Reapers like Momo, she stated that there were many of them and they were organized into Squads.

Natsu didn't really get the Thirteen Court Guard Squads' business, but he understood that there were really powerful Soul Reapers that were usually assigned as the Captains of these Squads (and he wanted to fight one of them badly).

Natsu wondered what made a Captain so strong, so Momo then had to explain a Zanpakuto's releases. She told him the 'initial release' was called Shikai (not 'she-fly', which Natsu kept getting confused with), and then there was Bankai; the final release. Momo stated that all Captains had their own unique Bankai and that they were immensely powerful in their own right.

When Natsu found out that he couldn't do any of that yet, he sulked for most of the trip.

Regardless, he asked questions about why he could feel something pushing him into the ground when he fought the Hollow. Momo told him that was reiatsu (and when he couldn't pronounce it correctly, she gave up and translated it at Spiritual Pressure, which he finally got. She had to do the same for the rest of the terms regarding Soul Reapers). She went on to say that Spiritual Pressure is gauged depending on one's reiryoku (before stopping herself half-way to translate that as Spiritual Power). She then said that Soul Reapers gather reishi (spirit particles) around them to fuel their power.

Natsu mentally categorized these as the following. Soul Reapers release heavy stuff when they increase their power, and floating stuff around them makes them stronger. It was easier for him that way.

Natsu then asked what happened to Momo and why she didn't have her Zanpakuto on her. She told him that he stole almost all of her power when she stabbed him, and now she can't use any of her Soul Reaper powers until she recovers them. When Natsu asked how, she didn't tell him straight away; saying it was a secret until they got to where they were headed.

Finally, they reached their destination, and it was night-time.

Natsu and Momo arrived at a small open field that had a cave inside the mountain they were closest to. The field wasn't very big, but it was shaped distinctly as a circle. The two of them were standing in the exact centre when a voice called out to them. Momo recognized it instantly, while Natsu drew his sword and excreted his magic into the blade, setting it on fire.

"Hello there, Natsu Dragneel," the cryptic voice greeted, emerging from the cave clad in Death's cloak.

"Who are you!?" Natsu demanded.

Momo was now extremely concerned for the young wizard. "Natsu, don't attack Kyomu! That person is our ally!"

But her warning fell on deaf ears, as Natsu charged right at the mysterious figure, Kyomu, with his Zanpakuto above his head. He sliced downwards. But something felt instantly wrong as he did that.

Kyomu raised its right arm with minimal effort and grabbed Natsu's blade with its bare hand. Shocked, Natsu found he couldn't retreat. His blade was stuck in the stranger's iron grip.

"You should've listened to Miss Hinamori, Dragneel." Suddenly, Kyomu raised its Spiritual Pressure a fair bit, and Natsu collapsed straight down into the ground. Momo couldn't withstand the Pressure as well, and ended up like Natsu. The mysterious Soul Reaper released Natsu's sword from its hold, and reduced its Spiritual Pressure back to an unnoticeable level. Kyomu went over to Momo and picked her up by her hand.

"Are you alright, Miss Hinamori?"

Momo stood up and wiped her brow with her forearm due to the amount of sweat she was letting out. "Yes, I'm fine. Although, I wasn't expecting Natsu to attack you like that." She bowed her head. "I apologize for not stopping him quickly enough."

Kyomu patted Momo's head. "Do not fret. I am perfectly fine. So I take it extracting his soul with that glove I gave you worked?"

Momo raised her head back to its normal level and nodded with a smile. "Yup! It worked just fine."

"Hey! When you two are done chatting, I'd like to know who the hell you are!" Natsu called, slightly irritated. He was standing up and had his sword sheathed.

Kyomu turned around and responded. "Where are my manners? You can call me Kyomu, Dragneel."

"Yeah yeah whatever, Comb," Natsu mocked.

Ignoring him, Kyomu looked back at Momo and said, "Let's get inside. It can get pretty cold at night."

Momo nodded again. "Okay."

Kyomu used Flash Step to appear next to Natsu, shocking him as he remembered the Hollow using Sonido, a similar technique. "Come. Inside I will explain more about the world of a Soul Reaper to you."

Natsu didn't look impressed. Mostly because he had his arse handed to him by Spiritual Pressure alone, but agreed nonetheless to enter the cave.

* * *

Deep inside the cave was a gigantic training ground that looked almost identical to the one owned by Kisuke Urahara. As the three Soul Reapers walked into the centre, Natsu asked the question with an obvious answer. "Where are we?"

Kyomu answered, "This is a secluded training ground I created myself. My actual living space is somewhere else in this cave. Not that I would tell you where it is."

"Okay, so then why are we here?"

"Patience, Dragneel," Kyomu suggested as everyone stood still. "Wait here." And with a single Flash Step, Kyomu disappeared.

Momo approached Natsu. "How are you feeling right now?"

Natsu thought about it. "I don't feel any different than a little while ago. Why do you ask?"

"Draw your sword," Momo asked politely.

Natsu did as she said, and the blade touched the gravel at his feet. "Now what?"

"I'm going to teach you something while Kyomu does a few other things. It asked me to teach you Jinzen in the meantime."

The novice Substitute Soul Reaper was confused. "What's _Jinzen_?"

"Sit on the ground with your legs crossed and hold the blade across your lap."

Natsu did just that. "What exactly is this for anyway?"

"We're going to see if you can communicate with your Zanpakuto."

This surprised Natsu, as he never knew his Zanpakuto could talk to him. "Wait, how does that work?"

Momo sat cross-legged in front of Natsu as she explained. "I said a little while ago that a Zanpakuto is formed from a Soul Reaper's soul. That means your Zanpakuto is a part of you. Remember when I told you about Shikai and Bankai?"

"Yeah and you said I can't do any of that! What's your point?"

"My point is, you can't do any of those things because you don't know your Zanpakuto's name. It's just a guess, but Kyomu thinks because you're a Soul Reaper that you may have a chance to communicate with your Zanpakuto. It's only a guess because Kyomu has never handled a case like yours at all, you being a Substitute Soul Reaper. So now we're going to test it."

"Okay, so how do I talk to it? Say hi or something?"

Momo giggled. "No. It seems confusing, but it's really easy. All you have to do is try to force your mind into the blade. Close your eyes, relax, and try to make yourself one with your Zanpakuto."

Natsu was dumb-struck. "Uh… …okay." Nevertheless, he closed his eyes, breathed in and out slowly.

_In_. He tried to think about talking to his sword.

_Out_. He tried again to find some sort of connection.

_In_. He felt something coming from the blade.

_Out_. He thought he heard a voice.

_In_. He tried calling to it. _Hey, are you there?_

_Out_. The voice was faint. He could hardly make it out.

_In_. He tried again. _Are you there?_

_Out_. Nothing. It was almost like he was being denied access to anything.

He opened his eyes and shook his head. "I can't find anything. All I could hear was a really faint voice inside the blade."

Momo sighed in disappointment. "That's a shame. It looks like Substitute Soul Reapers can't communicate with Zanpakuto."

Natsu pouted. "Well, this stinks. Can I go home now?"

Kyomu reappeared with Flash Step. "I don't think so, Mr Substitute. You need to show me how strong you are as a Soul Reaper. To do that, I prepared a gift for you." Kyomu snapped its fingers as ten Hollows emerged, surrounding the trio of Soul Reapers in a circle formation.

Surprised, Natsu got up onto his feet with his Zanpakuto in hand. "What the hell is this?"

"Training," replied Kyomu as the cloaked figure walked over to Momo, who stood up and held onto the figure. "Defeat these Hollows by yourself. Once you're done, Miss Hinamori and I will tell you about your duties as a Soul Reaper." The two of them were gone thanks to Flash Step.

"HEY COME ON, THAT'S NOT FAIR!" the wizard cried out.

One of the Hollows tackled Natsu as he didn't see it coming. He tried to block, but the Dragon Slayer was knocked into the air with little effort. "D-Damn it!" Wasting no time, Natsu recovered in mid-air and charged fire into his Zanpakuto and swung his large sword downwards, slicing right through the mask and destroying the Hollow.

"Yeah, ya like that!?" Natsu taunted as he landed back on the ground, before three other Hollows rushed towards him from behind at the same time. He turned around and noticed this, but instead of standing around like an idiot, he met them head-on and swung horizontally. He missed two of them, but the other one caught his blade in its mouth. "Ah damn! Let go, you ugly bastard!"

He tried pulling his blade out of its mouth, but it wouldn't let go. He forgot about the other Hollows, who ended up charging their Cero. Deciding to leave his Zanpakuto to be chewed on, he let go and engulfed his fists in flames. "FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!" He smashed the ground apart, engulfing the three Hollows in his radius and killing them completely.

His Zanpakuto fell to the ground. He picked it up and examined it. Nothing was wrong, so Natsu turned around, channeled his fire into the blade again and went after the next Hollow. It fired a Cero, which Natsu dodged by stepping to the side. He sprinted towards it and swung his sword awkwardly at the mask. He missed, and another Hollow rushed him again, pushing him down to the ground.

With the Hollow mounted on top of him, Natsu called, "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" The gigantic breath of flame incinerated the Hollow's mask as it disappeared into nothingness. The Dragon Slayer got up onto his feet and blocked an incoming Cero with the side of his blade. The force pushed him back as he left a trail underneath his feet. "Oh yeah!? Is that all ya got!?" He pushed the Cero to the side as it destroyed a nearby rock. Igniting his feet on fire, he launched himself off the ground towards the Hollow and threw his sword into the Hollow's mask and killed it.

He caught his Zanpakuto in mid-air and noticed another couple of Hollows heading toward him, directly in line with his sight. He smirked as he puffed his cheeks. "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" The two Hollows dodged to either side of Natsu's attack and punched him with their fists at the same time. The Dragon Wizard was thrown into a boulder and smashed right through it, emerging from the dust lying on his back.

"Ugh… That hurt…" Natsu picked himself up off the ground, resting on his Zanpakuto for support. A Hollow charged at him, forcing him to block. He was starting to get the hang of using his weapon. He would admit that using his magic was a lot easier, but trying something different was nice once in a while.

Natsu continued the clash with the Hollow before charging fire into the blade, causing the beast to recoil away from getting burnt. He swung his sword with a wide arc horizontally, cutting through the Hollow's mask, killing it. There were four left to go.

The Hollows stood on the air to form the corners of a square, and they charged a Cero, ready to fire them at the Dragon Slayer/Substitute Soul Reaper. He took note of this, and smirked. "Well! Come on then! I'm waiting for ya. Give me your best shot, you ugly freaks!"

They fired their Ceroes simultaneously, nailing the area where Natsu was, creating an enormous dust cloud. They thought they killed him, but they were sorely mistaken as Natsu jumped out of the cloud, calling, "FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK!" The flame whips obliterated two of the Hollows. Still in the air, he chucked his flame-induced Zanpakuto into one of the Hollow's mask, killing it like its other two friends. The last Hollow tried to cower away from Natsu, but he wouldn't let it.

He launched himself again with his feet set on fire. "FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" The Hollow turned back and got its mask smashed into pieces by Natsu's fist. It disappeared off the face of the planet.

Natsu fell to the ground and did a three-point landing, smashing the ground below his feet. He didn't move from his spot as Momo and Kyomu reappeared behind him. Overall, they were fairly impressed for the most part.

The only problem was that he used a lot of his magic as well, and not just his Zanpakuto.

"It seems you're able to defeat the Hollows by yourself, to say the least," said Kyomu. "But there's a reason we, Soul Reapers, have Zanpakuto. I assume you do not know why."

Natsu stood up straight and turned around, facing them. "To slay Hollows, right?"

"Do you know what Hollows are exactly? They are not just evil spirits; they were once human."

"Ah!" Natsu was stunned in disbelief, his eyes dilated. Momo _never_ mentioned that to him beforehand. So now he was supposed to accept the fact that he just killed several _people_? "Why…didn't anyone mention this before…?"

Momo looked away with guilt. That was the only thing she didn't want Natsu to know, because she knew he wouldn't take it lightly. That was why she didn't say anything.

Kyomu spoke what Momo was thinking. "If we did tell you, you would've naïvely thought you could save these beasts without using a Zanpakuto."

"Well, can't we!?" Natsu argued, getting worked up.

"Don't you get it, Dragon Slayer? Miss Hinamori would've told you that Soul Reapers guide lost souls to the Soul Society, correct? That is the power of a Zanpakuto; it helps send souls - including Hollows who haven't done horrible crimes - to the Soul Society. By killing them, we are doing them a favour."

"Soul Society…? What's that?" Natsu actually wasn't told this. Momo skipped over it because it never crossed her mind to tell him, otherwise it would've confused him. Plus, at the time, he was asking quite a few questions pretty quickly.

"The Soul Society is like Heaven; good souls go there when they die or are purified after having turned into a Hollow. Our job is to guide them there. If they want, they can try to become a Soul Reaper themselves by going to the academy," Kyomu explained. "Speaking of which, you don't know how to wield your Zanpakuto properly; you're a complete amateur at Zanjutsu. You seem proficient in Hakuda, and you may be able to learn Kido and Hoho as well given the right teaching methods."

"Okay, stop saying all of those confusing words! It's hurting my head thinking about it!"

"But you _must _learn these things to become an efficient Soul Reaper. Those Hollows that you killed without your Zanpakuto are gone, Natsu Dragneel. They won't return to the Soul Society - no - they simply disappear."

Natsu bowed his head, hiding his frustration behind his hair. "Screw you…! If you told me earlier…" He glared at Kyomu. "…THEN I NEVER WOULD'VE USED MAGIC TO BEGIN WITH!"

The cloaked Soul Reaper remained silent.

The angered Dragon Wizard scoffed as he turned around to go and pick up his Zanpakuto. "I'm done talking to you," he snapped. "Momo, take me home back to my body. Now."

"But Natsu you-"

"NOW!"

Momo was stunned into staying quiet. Kyomu told her, "Go and do it, Miss Hinamori. If he won't take responsibility as a Soul Reaper, then he should leave immediately and not come back. I have no time to waste on naïve imbeciles who can't accept their job." Kyomu disappeared with Flash Step.

Momo grimaced. She was hoping that Natsu would take up the mantle to guard Magnolia. But he was too angry to listen to reason.

But then, suddenly, her Soul Pager went off. She pulled her phone out of her Shihakusho and looked at where the Hollow was located. When she saw the details, she went pale. She didn't want to believe what she was looking at, but there was no denying it.

There was a Hollow, much more powerful than a Vasto Lorde, heading straight for Magnolia.

Natsu picked up his sword and sheathed it. "Momo, let's hurry up and leave."

"Wait, Natsu!" the Lieutenant cried out in panic. "My Soul Pager went off. There's a Hollow heading straight for Magnolia!"

"Say what!?" Natsu turned around with dread written all over his face.

"And this one isn't a pushover either. This one is very powerful, possibly stronger than you." It was Kyomu who said that, as it reappeared behind Natsu.

The Dragon Slayer turned around and saw the Soul Reaper. "You…! You can sense it from here?"

"I'm a very powerful Soul Reaper, Dragneel. I'm able to sense Hollows kilometres from where I am standing. Now, as I was going to say. Do you think you can fight, to protect the place you care about? Will you fight for Magnolia, Dragon Slayer? Not for me, not for the Soul Society, but for those you hold close to your heart?"

Natsu was faced with a life-changing decision. Will he take up the mantle as a Representative of Magnolia? Or will the Dragon Slayer simply give up and let someone else protect his friends?

It was obvious what his answer was, and that was the answer he was going to give. "Let's go!"

* * *

Magnolia felt the Hollow's Spiritual Pressure as he stood on top of a cliff that let him look over the city; the place where the famous wizard Mystogan liked to stand over to see Magnolia's condition when he went away and decided to return. Thanks to Aizen, this Hollow became an Arrancar. He looked like a hammerhead shark but with legs. He was purple. At the time he met Aizen, he thought the Soul Reaper Captain was going to kill him. But instead, he was asked by the man to be his test subject for making other Arrancar in the near future.

Now, he was at the peak of his power, and was sent to Magnolia to test out his new found strength.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" called an angered voice.

The Hollow turned around and saw Natsu Dragneel standing tall and proud with his Zanpakuto unsheathed. "Where do you think you're going, huh!?"

The Hammerhead Arrancar laughed. "I wasn't going anywhere really, just going to eat a few hundred souls for the day and test out my new power is all."

"Not on my watch!" Natsu rushed the Hollow with his sword coming down from the back of his head.

But the Hollow raised his hand casually and caught the blade, stopping Natsu in mid-air. "Ha! Look at how far that got you, stupid Soul Reaper!"

Suddenly, his hand felt extremely hot as Natsu fuelled his Dragon Slayer flames into the sword. "Gah!" He let go and Natsu planted his feet on the ground and retreated back to where he stood previously. "You little _shit_. How did you do that?"

Natsu laughed mockingly. "Guess you don't know a thing about magic, do ya? That's just perfect." The flames on his blade intensified. "You're not getting anywhere near Magnolia, do you hear me!?" he declared.

"We'll see about that now, won't we!?" The Hollow increased his Spiritual Pressure, forcing Natsu to hunch over slightly.

_Damn it, this guy's strong!_ Natsu thought to himself as he tried to remain calm.

The Hollow created a lance made from his Spiritual Power in his right hand. "Die! You arrogant Soul Reaper!" He charged towards his foe, with his lance thrusting forward-

Natsu revved up the flames like crazy, pushing the Arrancar back to the edge of the cliff as the lance dispersed from the heat. The flames were too large and too intense for him to approach the Dragon Slayer/Soul Reaper. But then he realized something.

It took him a while, but he remembered the strength of his hierro.

Chuckling, the Hollow slowly walked over to Natsu's flames and then immersed himself completely. He was getting slightly burned, but Natsu's magic wasn't piercing the hierro very well. The wizard saw this, and swung his sword with as much strength as possible.

The blade stopped on the Arrancar's collarbone, not even scratching the skin.

Natsu gasped, and he turned down the flames. He pulled his burning Zanpakuto back, and then swung down on the same spot again. But his effort was to no avail; the result was the same. He tried again. And again. And again. And again.

The Hollow laughed in his face. "You're getting increasingly annoying, Soul Reaper." He grabbed the blade before it hit his collarbone again, and then snapped it in two with his grip.

"Ah!" Natsu looked on with horror as he realized he was in deep trouble.

"What's wrong? Ain't got the balls anymore because I broke your toy?" He dropped his half of Natsu's sword as he summoned another lance. He sliced diagonally at blinding speed, tearing open the young Soul Reaper from his left shoulder down to his right hip. Blood sprayed everywhere as Natsu couldn't react quick enough to dodge or attack back.

He collapsed onto his knees, too scared to run away; too weak to fight back.

"D-Damn it…" Natsu muttered as blood poured out of his wound. He felt dizzy, like he was going to fall asleep.

The Arrancar raised his lance. "_Now DIE_!" He brought it down…

* * *

A blade blocked the lance.

"What the…!" The Hammerhead Arrancar murmured.

The sword was an ordinary katana. The guard was a pale blue, and shaped like a diamond. The handle was completely black. The owner of the weapon (who was standing directly in between Natsu and the Arrancar) moved so fast that the hood was blown off their head.

Her medium-long raven black hair flowed freely in the wind. Her deep blue eyes glared intensely at the Hollow through her bangs. Her elegant yet stern facial features didn't move a muscle.

Natsu, feeling faint, recognized the cloak. "K-Kyomu…"

The Soul Reaper spoke and Natsu thought she sounded like Erza without the voice filter. "It seems like you couldn't handle this after all, Dragneel. No matter. This Hollow is no pushover in the first place. For the likes of you anyway."

"Who the hell are you!?" the Hollow bellowed.

"That depends, do you want my real name or the name everyone else knows me by?" she asked without skipping a beat.

"_Answer me!_"

"Very well…" She closed her eyes and opened them as she stated, "My name is Kagami Akashingo. I am a former seated officer of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Now you shall die... …by my sword!" Kagami raised her enormous Spiritual Pressure, forcing the Hollow to buckle down to his knees and drop his lance. Kagami raised her Zanpakuto into the air, high above her head.

She brought her blade down, splitting her enemy in two.

Magnolia was safe.

Kagami sheathed her Zanpakuto hidden in her cloak and turned around to see Natsu unconscious and bleeding on the ground. _I guess I overestimated you. You may have the power of a low-level Captain, but you lack the necessary skill to become an efficient Soul Reaper. Your magic may help assist you, but… …even you know better now not to do that. Don't worry, Dragon Wizard. I will help you get stronger. Even if you're being manipulated like I suspect._

Kagami looked up at the Moon in the distance, above the Fairy Tail guild. "What are you up to, Sosuke?"

* * *

His eyes shot open, and the first thing he saw was the ceiling of his bedroom. Funny, the last thing he remembered doing before now was fighting a Hollow-

"AH NO, GUYS!" Natsu cried out as he sat up straight instantaneously. When nothing happened, he looked down to find he was back in his body. He knew this because he was wearing his ordinary clothes.

He was sitting on his couch. Down on the floor and all around the room were various items he collected when he went on jobs with Lucy and the rest of his team. It was completely disorganized, not that Natsu cared anyway.

"Natsu, are you okay?" It was Happy, and he flew into the room his friend was in.

He looked at the flying cat and muttered, "Happy… You're okay…"

Confused by this, Happy wondered what exactly he was talking about. "Of course I'm okay. You didn't have a bad dream or anything, did you?"

"No, I didn't! I honestly thought all of you were going to die!"

Happy pretended to ponder this, but just ended up saying, with a smirk on his face, "You must have hit your head pretty hard when we got home. Do you know how hard it was to carry you into the house?"

Now Natsu was the confused one. "Wait a second, don't you remember Momo?"

"Who's that? All that happened when we came home from the guild was that you just collapsed on the ground. Nothing else happened."

Silence. Natsu was in complete disbelief. Happy didn't remember who Momo was, even though she was indistinguishable. Then again, it didn't seem like Erza remembered her either.

_What the hell's going on!?_ Natsu thought as he scratched his head vigorously. _None of this makes any sense! First Erza, and now Happy! Why am I the only one who remembers being a Soul Reaper or whatever they're called?!_

Happy said, "Anyway, enough about your dreams. It's morning, and Mirajane promised me yesterday that she would serve me fish!" He flew around the room in a circle; going on about how much he likes fish and what species he liked the most, then changing his mind half-way through.

Natsu ignored all of that. He thought about the situation more closely. He could tell Momo had some sort of ability to alter someone else's memories. But he didn't know if Kyomu (he couldn't remember her saying Kagami) could do the same thing.

But thinking about all of that didn't get him anywhere. It just made him more and more frustrated. Giving up, he got to his feet to get ready to go to the guild.

* * *

Happy left for the guild first. Natsu told him they would meet up there later. He had some snooping around to do. He had to find Momo to get some answers again. Some things didn't add up for him.

As he opened the door, he sort of got what he wanted.

It was Kagami standing at the door. She still wore the cloak and its hood, but Natsu could at least see her face underneath it.

"Hello Dragneel," she greeted. "It's good to see you recovered so quickly."

"Wait, you're…" Natsu muttered. "…Kyomu, right?"

"No. I don't think I need to hide my true name anymore, so I'll say it to you again. I'm Kagami."

"Kagami…" he repeated to himself. "Where's Momo?"

"She's back at the mountain, currently training to get her powers back. Walk with me in town. You and I need to discuss some things."

Natsu sighed for the second time in forty-eight hours. "Fine. Lead the way."

* * *

The duo walked through the streets of Magnolia and talked about Hollows and their home world, Hueco Mundo. Kagami explained how a Hollow was born, and why they have a constant need to eat other souls. The last thing to talk about was the Soul Society.

Kagami said there were thirteen Squads, and each of them specialized in something different. Natsu didn't really understand all of that; it just made his head hurt. Eventually, after explaining everything to Natsu thanks to the up-to-date information from Momo, she eventually got to Shino Academy: the school for Soul Reapers.

Using this, Kagami talked about Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Kido and Hoho. In simple terms, Zanjutsu was sword fighting, Hakuda was close combat, Kido was sort of like magic, and Hoho was what Kagami does (Flash Step) except used for fighting. Natsu, at least, understood that.

While they were talking, people were giving Natsu a couple of strange looks but not Kagami, who's the most suspicious-looking out of the two.

"Hey Kagami, why are people looking at me funny and not you?" He asked while they kept walking.

"It's because they can't see me."

"Wait, then how can I see you!?"

"Quiet down. People will look at you strangely."

Natsu realized he looked like an idiot, and decided to shut up.

"You listen, I'll talk. Nod if you understand."

Natsu nodded like she asked.

"In my time here in Earth Land I have noticed that wizards have a basic ability to be able to see ghosts. People here can't see me because they are not wizards themselves. My guess is that wizards and Soul Reapers share some sort of supernatural principle to them. Like a Soul Reaper, people have to train to become wizards, correct?"

Natsu nodded as he placed his hands behind his head.

"That would mean we aren't so different. The major difference being that, Soul Reapers have their power converted into a weapon, like the Zanpakuto you and I own. Wizards, on the other hand, use something different. I do not personally know what that is exactly."

Natsu asked in a whisper, "Why's a wizard different?"

"I wouldn't know for certain, but it most likely has to do with the laws of your world."

He whispered again. "So your world is different from mine."

"You know, you're not as stupid as you let on."

Natsu gave a cheesy smile. "You think so? Most of the stuff you're telling me doesn't make a whole lot of sense. All I really got from it is that you're not human."

Kagami smiled. "You're not wrong there."

Their talking eventually led to the front of the guild. Kagami turned and said to Natsu, "I'll meet you back at your house when your cat friend is asleep. We'll head back to the mountain area and discuss slaying Hollows. I'll also start training you in Zanjutsu, and I'll show you how to do the Flash Step."

"Alright then. See you later!"

And with that, Kagami disappeared with Flash Step once again.

Natsu walked up to the door, pushed them open, and went throughout his day normally with his friends.

End of Chapter 2

* * *

**(A/N: No cliff-hanger this time. You'll thank me next chapter.**

**Thanks again to Kuroyagi for his skills here. And I apologize to all of you, readers, for not getting this out before the end of my holidays. I tried, but I had other things I wanted to do.**

**Chapter 3 won't come out for a while, so that means I'm going on hiatus. I have exams coming up, and I do not want to fail them. I will get back to this after I'm finished with Year 11.**

**Until next time!)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The True Meaning of Responsibility

**(A/N: Ah… It feels good to be back at the computer screen, typing away my story and making it better and better. I might not update as often with current stories since I'm planning other ones, but I'll be sure to get a couple of chapters out anyway.**

**Thanks again to Kuroyagi for beta-reading, and I hope all of you enjoy the third chapter.)**

**I do not own **_**Fairy Tail **_**or **_**Bleach**_**. All rights go to their respective copyright owners. The dialogue I referred to originates from the FUNimation dub for episode 42, with a few modifications.**

* * *

Panting. So much panting.

Was he ever this tired before? This had to be the first time in years that he became so exhausted. He wanted a break because she didn't let up, even if she was only training him to become a more fleshed-out Soul Reaper. No, she kept the pressure on him almost non-stop. Normally he would've wanted to keep fighting, but Kagami and her training regime were out of and above his league.

As he sat on his right knee, Zanpakuto barely supporting him, Natsu contemplated how hard the training with the long raven-haired Soul Reaper Kagami Akashingo was. Never had he thought becoming a Soul Reaper was this ruthless. He hadn't trained this hard since he was with Igneel back in the single-digit years of his life. Actually, this may top that if he kept training like this for a few more weeks.

It had been a fortnight since the incident at Magnolia where the Hammerhead Arrancar arrived to wreck havoc. Thankfully, the only one who got seriously hurt was the Dragon Slayer himself. Everyone else was fine. And now that Natsu knew what he was going to go up against, he was more than willing to prepare for the worst case scenario.

Only if the training wasn't so ridiculously hard.

Kagami stood tall in her cloak without a single hit on her. She beckoned the Dragon Wizard forward with her free left hand. "Come, Dragneel. We're not done until I say so."

Natsu gathered as much strength as possible to stand up and continue the sparring. He took slow breaths to relax the tension within him. He grabbed his sword with both hands and held it out in front of him. Once his breathing was settled, he induced his magic into the steel of the weapon, and it caught alight. "_Bring it on!_" And he sprinted with his Zanpakuto pulled back to his left side, ready to swing across his body.

Kagami blocked the strike horizontally with her own Zanpakuto as sparks flew with the collision of hard steel. The veteran Soul Reaper didn't move an inch as she guided Natsu's blade up and above his head and pushed him back with a hard left palm to his solar plexus. The wizard went flying backwards from the force of the blow, but he balanced himself in the air by performing a back-flip.

His sandals were grinded into the ground, halting Natsu's momentum. He roared as he jumped high into the air and above Kagami, coming down with the tip of his blade pointing directly at the Soul Reaper. "I got you now!"

"I think not," Kagami shot back as she used Flash Step to disappear from his sight.

"Ah-!" The young Substitute Soul Reaper came straight down onto the ground with his Zanpakuto stuck in the ground. "Crap! Come on, get out!" He tried to pull it out of the ground, but it didn't budge.

"Too slow."

Natsu turned his head to look above and saw Kagami coming down fast. He left the sword where it was and engulfed his fists in flames. He jumped up to meet her. "_FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!_"

The two collided, creating a massive mid-air shockwave that shook the land around them. Both fighters didn't let up as they continued the collision, even when sparks generated off Kagami's sword. But ultimately, Natsu was overwhelmed by her strength as he was pushed down to the ground, with her mounted on top of him, blade close to his neck.

"Alright, that's enough for today," said Kagami as she placed her Zanpakuto back into her sheathe hidden in her cloak and got off from on top of him. "You can rest now."

After hearing that, Natsu relaxed his whole body. "Damn…" He hated losing a fight, even if he was just training.

Kagami held her hand out as her blue irises reflected into the Dragon Slayer's eyesight. "Come on, stand up. You won't recover properly on your back."

The young Dragon Slayer complained. "Oh come on…! That's so unfair…"

"If you have the energy to complain, you have the energy to stand up. Now come on." She kept her hand out for him to grab.

Natsu took one last breath, fighting the urge to lie back down onto the hard ground underneath him, and grabbed Kagami's soft yet firm grip as she pulled him up onto his feet (and he even noted that Kagami was a little bit taller than he was). He walked over to his Zanpakuto - still embedded in the ground - and with one last heave, he pulled it out and put it into his sheathe on his back. He steadied his breathing before asking, "How did I do that time?"

"You're starting to improve, but there are still a few kinks to work out. It'll take you about another week to get used to this new way of fighting, seeing as how you've been going into combat with nothing but your fists and magic for most of your life."

Natsu groaned as his shoulders slumped. "When will I improve faster?" he whined.

"Faster?" Kagami questioned with a smile. "Don't be silly, Dragneel. You're learning a lot faster than you think. It'd normally take years for ordinary Soul Reapers to get to the level you're already at."

"Really?" Natsu lit up to that.

"No, it takes about a couple of months actually. And that isn't saying much."

And then he slumped back down. "Damn it."

"But really, you're not doing terribly. You're still able to slay normal Hollows," Kagami admitted.

"What about if I went up against one of those 'vast lawns'?" Natsu still had trouble remembering some of the names he was told.

"You mean the Vasto Lordes?" she corrected. "I don't know. That one Hollow you fought a while back was too much for you to handle. If I were you, I'd stay away from any that come through to here in Earth Land. They might be too powerful at your current level as a Soul Reaper."

That reminded him. "Say, you're from another world or something, right?"

"What's your point?" she asked sincerely.

"Then how come Earth Land is getting Hollows now and not earlier? I mean, why are they here now?"

"So you picked up on that too." Kagami stopped smiling and turned serious. "It is indeed strange that Hollows are appearing here now when they haven't before. I can think of a few reasons why this is happening."

"You can, huh..."

She nodded. "But I'll tell you later. Now's not the time."

As she said that, Momo approached the two of them. "Hello there," she greeted cheerfully with a smile.

Natsu waved with a grin. "Hey there Momo!"

Kagami smiled again. "How's the recovery process coming along?"

The Lieutenant frowned. "It didn't go well. Nothing happens when I try out Kido, or anything else for that matter."

The veteran Soul Reaper sighed, closing her eyes. "Well there goes another one of my ideas… What a pity…" She looked at Momo again. "Have a rest for today. I'll give you something else to try tomorrow."

"Got it."

"Now if you'll excuse me you two, I'll be back in a moment." And with that, Kagami used Flash Step to disappear again (the act became a sort of trademark in Momo's eyes).

She walked up to Natsu and asked, "How's your training with Kagami going?" She was told what happened at Magnolia the night the incident happened, along with finding out that Kagami was a girl under the hood.

He sighed heavily. "It's such a pain… The only thing I'm good at is fist-fighting, but only because I've been doing that for ages anyway."

"What about everything else?" Momo asked as nicely as she could put it.

The first reply was a groan. "Kido stinks. Hoho is hard, and I can't seem to wield a sword properly."

"Well if you're struggling with Kido, I can help you. I'm a specialist in that area."

Natsu lit up like a light and grinned. "Really? You'll do that for me?"

She nodded, chuckling a little. "Yup!"

Natsu's fists lit on fire and bashed them together. "Alright, now I'm fired up!"

_That cheered him up at least,_ the Lieutenant thought as she walked up to Natsu and grabbed his hands (which weren't on fire anymore). "Come on, let's try it out now."

"Huh? Now?" Natsu was confused. He planned on doing this tomorrow.

"Come on, let's see your Shakkaho." She pulled him forward a little bit before going around his side with her hands behind her back. "Okay, do you still remember the incantation?"

The young man looked clueless, like he didn't know what she was talking about, but said, "Uh, I think."

Momo backed away to give him space. She pointed to a boulder in the distance. "Try and aim for that boulder over there. Remember: try and focus your Spirit Energy into a sphere in the palm of your hand. And then release it as you finish the chant."

Natsu moaned before he held his right hand out in front of him, with his left hand on top of his right forearm. He focused a bit of energy into his palm. "Ye lord, mask of flesh and… Uh…"

Without warning, the Shakkaho blew up in his face and he fell on his backside. Smoke lingered around his head.

Momo ran up to him and knelt down, worried. "Ah, Natsu! Are you okay!?"

"Ah damn it!" Natsu emerged from the smoke, his face charred. "I can't believe _I_ got burnt by fire! What's up with that!?" It certainly was ironic, but hilarious under normal circumstances.

"Don't worry Natsu, not everyone's suited for Kido."

The Dragon Slayer wiped his face, looking like nothing happened. He was frowning. "I wanna go home now," he pouted.

"Aw come on Natsu, don't give up that quickly…"

"No, he should go home for today." Kagami appeared in front of them with her hands behind her back. "He needs to rest up for tomorrow anyway."

Momo sighed as she understood.

"Before you go, Dragneel…" Natsu turned to face the cloaked Soul Reaper. "…there's something I want you to have."

The wizard listened in.

She revealed a strange square-shaped device and held it out in front of her. It had a unique skull shape in the middle of it. "This is just a prototype I made, but it's something that'll help you get out of your body when neither Miss Hinamori nor I are there to help you. It took me a little while to make this, but it has similar properties to that glove she used on you a little while ago." She handed it to him. "Don't lose it."

Natsu smirked as he stood up and took it out of her hands. "Don't worry. I'll keep it on me."

"That's good." Kagami walked over to Momo while saying, "See you soon. I think you should go back to the guild and go on a job for the time being. You'll need a bit of a break from this. Don't be gone for too long though, and remember one thing: do not reveal yourself to be a Soul Reaper to _anyone_. This must stay a secret."

Natsu didn't understand. "Why's that?"

Truthfully, Kagami wanted him to keep it a secret because she had a suspicion that the Soul Society was going to send a retrieval team over to Earth Land to find Momo. And if they found out that Natsu took her powers and had been a Substitute Soul Reaper all this time, then the result would not be pretty. But she didn't tell him that. Not yet anyway. "Trust me on this one. If trouble should arise, you wouldn't want to be seen in the middle of it because you didn't cover up your tracks."

Natsu sighed. He hated it when Kagami kept secrets from him, but he couldn't do anything about it. "Alright, I'll try my best."

The Soul Reaper nodded. "See you later then."

"Yeah." He turned to leave. "Oh and by the way." He looked over his shoulder. "Can you call me 'Natsu' instead of 'Dragneel'? It's kinda buggin' me."

She chuckled a little. "Not a man of formalities, are you? Sorry, but I don't intend on being that familiar with you just yet."

Natsu smiled a little. "Shame… Maybe if you joined Fairy Tail you wouldn't have a huge stick up your arse."

"I'll let that comment slide, Dragon Slayer, at least until our next sparring session."

He paled, now wanting to take back what he said. "Ah crap… Me and my big mouth…"

* * *

**Soul Society**

Sosuke Aizen sat at the computer monitor within the barracks of Squad 12 and had just saw Natsu Dragneel exit a cave and began heading back home. He was using the Squad's technology to monitor Earth Land through the Dangai. What he had been witnessing for weeks now had been very interesting for him indeed.

_That boy,_ Aizen thought with a devious smirk. _His growth rate is very intriguing. Someone is training him, and I know for certain it isn't Momo. Or at least it isn't just her; another Soul Reaper is helping speed up the process for me. Does this person perhaps know what I'm planning? Or is it a happy accident?_

Aizen lost track of what happened the night his Arrancar appeared in Magnolia. It just so happened that the technology he used to monitor the Dragon Slayer's happenings was destroyed. It was just a coincidence of course, but it made Aizen's job a little more difficult because he had to use his silver tongue to convince Captain Mayuri to give him more time in the laboratory to build a new device. It proved more difficult to do that than the Captain of Squad 5 predicted, but he eventually got what he wanted.

He didn't even have to use Kyoka Suigetsu.

Earth Land was quite the exotic world to him. Never before had he seen people like Natsu - or any wizard for that matter. The fact that a lot of them could rival – even surpass - the power of a Captain was fascinating to say the least. Some could very well become powerful Soul Reapers if they so happen to pass through the Dangai into Aizen's dimension after passing on. However, Aizen did the next best thing – faster too: create a Substitute Soul Reaper over there, and see what would happen when Hollows invaded.

Before Aizen could further observe the Dragon Slayer/Soul Reaper hybrid, someone familiar approached him from behind his chair.

"I thought I told you before to stop sneaking up on me like that, Gin," Aizen addressed, while said man just chuckled a little.

"Come now Captain Aizen, how else would I entertain myself?"

Aizen ignored the Captain of Squad 3 and refocused his attention back to the monitor.

"Say," Gin started. "What are you looking at, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Currently I am monitoring this young boy in another world called Earth Land. It is a place where wizards thrive and live their lives in these 'guilds' as they are called," the 5th Captain answered. "He is what's known as a Dragon Slayer: a powerful elemental wizard trained by a dragon in order to fight other dragons."

"A dragon you say?" Now Gin was interested. "Our world certainly doesn't have anything like that. But why is it that he's wearing a Soul Reaper uniform? I've never seen him around in the Soul Society."

"Indeed, that is because he's a Substitute Soul Reaper," Aizen revealed.

"Oh? Now that's different." Gin's smirk grew ever so wider. "So your Lieutenant is-"

"That's right. I sent Momo over to Earth Land on purpose, in order to see what it would be like to create a Soul Reaper out of someone like him. I must admit, the results are quite the spectacle. I don't think I could've chosen anyone more fitting than him."

"And what is his name, Captain Aizen?"

"He goes by the name of Natsu. Natsu Dragneel," the scheming Captain replied with a smile.

* * *

**Fairy Tail guild**

"Hey Lucy, let's go on a job together!" Natsu yelled with a smirk, back in his real body and the badge in his pocket, standing close to his friend.

The Celestial Spirit wizard lifted her head up from the table she usually sat at when she was depressed about the upcoming rent. Every time Natsu asked her to go on a job with him, she was always relieved. Although he did like to ask whenever she was close to not meeting her rent, which was always a fairly inconvenient time for her.

Sometimes she hated that.

"Sure Natsu! What job did you have in mind?"

He held the flyer in his right hand. "This one!"

The flyer was a request to deal with some mysterious ghost sightings in the town of Oshibana. Apparently a bunch of wizards had stated that there were strange-looking creatures flying around and causing havoc amongst the common folk. Some people have been seriously injured too, only barely surviving because wizards were saving the civilians left and right throughout the night (and that was a common time for the ghosts to appear; rarely did they ever show up in broad daylight for one reason or another).

In Natsu's mind, this was the perfect job to test out his new powers.

Lucy got up from her seat and took a look at the information. She found it was a high-paying job too. Each individual would get about 70,000 Jewel; the exact amount for her rent. Her eyes sparkled as she got excited.

"Well what are we waiting for!? Let's go and do it!" She grabbed Natsu's hand and they bolted out of the guild faster than anyone could see them.

Just as soon as they did leave, Happy entered the guild and flew over to Mirajane. "Hi Mirajane! Have you seen Natsu?"

The former S-Class wizard smiled brightly at the blue flying cat. "I have! You just missed him. He and Lucy just left to go on a job."

"_What!?_ You're kidding!" His jaw dropped, devastated. "He…left me behind…!"

Sometimes Happy felt like he was being tormented on purpose.

* * *

**Oshibana Town**

After having puked a few times due to his motion sickness, Natsu and Lucy got off the train on Oshibana Station and started walking through the streets. It was night-time when they arrived. Natsu was really looking forward to this mission.

Because he knew for a fact that those 'ghosts' were Hollows; an enemy he could slay properly now that he's had a bit of training.

But he made sure Lucy wouldn't find out his secret, otherwise Kagami would've killed him. And he was sure she wouldn't be kidding around either. The thought sent shivers up his spine.

Walking through the streets and under the lampposts, Lucy looked at Natsu and asked, "So why this job in particular? You never gave me a reason as to why you wanted to do this."

Natsu came up with the best excuse he could think of. "Because it sounded cool! I mean who wouldn't want to see ghosts flying around?" Well, that was sort of telling the truth, anyway.

Lucy sweat-dropped. "O_kay_…" _Not the best reason in the world. We actually could be in danger here._

Natsu walked with his hands behind his head. For some reason, he couldn't sense anything wrong with the town at this point. Not like he was good at sensing presences anyway - Kagami determined that - but it still felt odd that the town was so quiet. He even tried sniffing out any Hollows that may have been hiding, but he found nothing.

Natsu grew bored pretty quickly because of that.

The duo walked around town for a little bit before Natsu wondered, "I wonder where Happy went. I could've sworn we took him with us."

Not that Lucy's answer would've mattered whether she said it or not, because suddenly a blood-curdling roar reverberated throughout the town. But it wasn't just one; no, it was several roars. It stopped Lucy in her tracks.

_What… What was that noise?_ Lucy wondered, shaking in her boots slightly. _That was no ordinary sound. It sounded like a monster!_

Natsu stopped as well, knowing exactly what was coming. _Hollows…_ He sprinted off back the other way, where the sound came from, leaving Lucy behind.

"Hey Natsu, wait! Where are you going!?" she cried out, but to no avail. Her partner was gone as soon as she turned around. _Where'd he go?_

The Dragon Slayer weaved through several buildings to make sure no-one saw his body collapse when he used his badge. Along the way he ran into someone wearing a black zip-up hoodie around their waist. He yanked it as he ran past, ignoring the angry yelling from the owner as he weaved through more buildings. When he found a good spot in an alleyway, he stopped and took the device out of his hand. "Okay… Let's see if this works." He thrust the square into his chest, forcing his soul out of his body as it fell to the ground. He placed the badge into his pants pocket and placed his real body upright against the wall, behind a bin. "Alright, time to put this on."

He got his arms out of his sleeves and put his Zanpakuto down on the ground, revealing his toned and muscular body as he picked up the hoodie off the ground and put his arms through its sleeves. He zipped it up, put the hood over his head, and then put his arms back through the sleeves of his Shihakusho. He nodded to himself as he picked up his sword again and placed his head through it, allowing it to sit on his right shoulder.

Meanwhile, Lucy was trying to find where Natsu ran off to, but she couldn't find him anywhere. He was just too fast for her to catch up. "Damn it Natsu! When I find you you're going to explain this!"

But before she could advance, she buckled down to all fours, struggling against a sudden pressure. _What is this? I can't move!_

In the middle of the street the Celestial Spirit wizard was in, a trio of Hollows appeared in front of her, weighing her down with their Spiritual Pressure, walking closer and closer with thunderous steps that seemed to rock Lucy's insides.

She looked up to see what was approaching her. Her eyes dilated as the white masks stared back with their piercing and hungry yellow eyes. She couldn't move, no matter how desperately she wanted to fight back, or run. _Don't tell me…! Am I… Am I going to die here?_

The Hollows neared.

_No…! I…I still have so many things I want to do with my life! What about my novelist career? What about getting a boyfriend? _She struggled to lift her right hand to reach for her keys. _Come on! I can't die here!_ She pulled out a random key, but she knew which one it was.

"Open…!" she muttered. "Gate of the…!"

One of the Hollows leapt into the air to come down on her.

But it was sliced in half by something sharp.

"Huh?" Lucy stopped her summoning to try and see what cut down the monster.

Suddenly, Natsu - clad in his face-concealing hoodie - stood in front of his partner with his back turned in front of her and Zanpakuto drawn, facing the ground with the tip barely touching it. He was in a low stance as he glared through the hood at the remaining two Hollows.

_Who…is that?_ Lucy was quite shocked at the new arrival, not knowing it was her friend that was standing in front of her.

The two Hollows took a few steps back, scared of the new arrival. "A Soul Reaper…!" one of them muttered.

_You're going to pay for trying to eat my friend, you bastards!_ Natsu dashed with blinding speed at one of them, cutting straight through the middle of it. The other Hollow tried to escape, but Natsu jumped right on top of it, splitting its head open with his Zanpakuto.

Lucy was safe, for now.

He sheathed his sword and sprinted back over to Lucy and picked her up over his shoulder. "Hey! What're you doing!? Let go!"

Natsu deepened his voice to make it as unrecognisable as possible. "You have to get out of here, now. Wait and hide until this is all over." What a fool he was for bringing Lucy along. He should've just gone on the job himself. Now he got one of his best friends involved in something she shouldn't be.

"No! Let me go! I'm going to help fight!" The female wizard tried struggling against Natsu's hold.

If he wanted to deal with the situation without getting her involved, he had to do something he would regret. He put her down. "Sorry." And then he hand-chopped the side of her neck, knocking her out. He caught her as she fell, and placed her in the closest alleyway, trying to hide her in the best spot in the immediate vicinity. "I'll come back for you once this is over, okay?"

He stood up and sprinted out onto the streets, looking for any Hollows he could possibly slay. There had to be hundreds of them, because magic was being thrown around the entire town like a firework show. That meant other wizards were fighting back. He couldn't do anything about that.

If he wanted to fight the Hollows, he'll need as much outside support as he could get, minus his friend, even if it meant those souls weren't going to be purified.

In order to combat the invasion, the Dragon Slayer had to fight in the air. But during his training with Kagami, she tried to teach him to utilise the reishi in the air to stand on it. But he failed every time; only once did he come close to doing it right. But he had to do it; the situation called for it.

He stopped sprinting and stood still. He closed his eyes and took slow breaths. _Okay, let's do it._

He gathered as much reishi as possible under his feet, preparing to propel himself high enough into the air. _Just a bit more… I need more to get going._

He gathered more reishi. _This will do._ He opened his eyes and yelled, "GO!"

He propelled himself high into the air, leaving a crater where he last stood. Once he reached a certain height, he settled down and placed his feet on the air. He stumbled a little.

But he succeeded; he was now standing on air.

He couldn't help but cheer. "Hell yeah! I did it!" He pumped his feet into the air, almost losing his footing because he jumped with said fist-pump. He regained his balance as he drew his Zanpakuto from his sheathe. "Note to self: don't do that again."

He then saw what else was in the air. The sight was indeed shocking, as he was witnessing under the shadow his hood casted over his eyes. Directly in his wake, there was an entire horde of those wretched souls, coming from over the train station, flooding the streets as they came down. There had to be dozens – if not hundreds – of them.

There was no time to be scared now. He had an obligation that he swore to uphold when he accepted his job as a Substitute Soul Reaper. He wasn't going to back out now of all times; not when so many people depended on those who were fighting, himself included.

He set his blade alight once again, the fires burning intensely on the finely crafted Zanpakuto. He steeled his resolve to be as tough as the steel of his weapon. "_Bring it!_" Remembering how to propel himself when in the air, he did so at a brilliant speed, leaving a shockwave where he last stood.

It was time to slay some Hollows.

He rushed into the centre of the massive wave of souls and swung his sword around in several circular motions, slicing through a couple of a dozen Hollows who were unfortunate enough to get caught in his range. He continued to spin, increasing his flames as he did so, further capturing more Hollows in his attack. "YOU'RE ALL GOING DOWN! YA HEAR ME!?"

He stopped spinning and charged vertically into the air as he set himself on fire too. A large amount of Hollows in his direction were run through with Natsu's blade, and those who weren't were incinerated by the Dragon Slayer's intense fire. He reached the top of the station and stopped in the air to look at the result of his attack.

The tally must've been huge, because at least a third of the horde was eliminated completely.

He reduced the flames back to just his sword as he smirked. "Well this will be easier than I thought. Kagami's training must've helped somehow."

"I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you, Soul Reaper."

"Ah-!" Natsu turned around after feeling the strong Spiritual Pressure coming from behind him at a short distance. And what he saw made him very nervous.

Even he knew what a Vasto Lorde's Spiritual Pressure felt like; there was no mistaking it.

The humanoid Hollow's mask looked similar to the head of the Fairy Tail mark, with no eyes or mouth whatsoever. He had long blue hair cascading down the back of his black cape from his skull. He looked like he was wearing some sort of black and white armour on his body. The hole was in the middle of his chest.

His arms were folded.

"So I take it you're the ringleader," Natsu stated.

"You could say that," The Vasto Lorde replied. "I've been sent here by Lord Baraggan to see if he can rule over this land. But I don't think he counted on a Soul Reaper residing here as well. So in that case…" He unfolded his arms, raised the Pressure, raised his right hand, and pointed a single finger at the Dragon Slayer. "…I will eliminate Lord Baraggan's enemies in time before his eventual arrival."

Kagami's warning rang through Natsu's mind, remembering her saying that he should avoid fighting any Vasto Lordes until he was ready. But he couldn't run away now. He was the only one who could fight it right now. Anyone else would get obliterated. If he didn't stop it, who would?

A red ball of energy emerged at the Hollow's fingertip, putting Natsu on edge as he recognised what he was doing.

"Cero."

The enormous Cero tore through the sky as it expanded to incredible lengths.

Without even thinking about it, Natsu emerged behind the Vasto Lorde after using Flash Step and sliced downwards, tearing through the cape and the Hollow's hierro, drawing blood.

"No way…!" the Hollow muttered as he turned around to deck the Dragon Slayer in the face, but was met with the side of Natsu's blade, creating a shockwave. The Soul Reaper felt the powerful force behind the attack, scared that his sword would snap at any moment.

The two of them broke away as the Vasto Lorde prepared another Cero. Natsu advanced on him first with a forward thrust to the stomach. But he missed as the Hollow used Sonido to appear above and behind the pink-haired wizard. "Cero."

The Substitute Soul Reaper dodged by propelling himself backwards. Once he was directly underneath the Hollow, he propelled upwards with his sword drawn back. "Eat_ this!_"

He swung horizontally, cutting off the foot of his enemy.

"Gah!" the Hollow cried out as he retreated away from Natsu to prevent further damage. "You little bastard… You'll pay for that!"

Natsu laughed as he stood back up straight. "I'd like to see ya try! If you can catch me, that is!"

"_WATCH ME!_" The Vasto Lorde advanced with blinding speed as he punched Natsu in the face faster than he could react, sending him flying down to the ground below. But the Hollow didn't let up. He fired several Balas from his fingers in the pink-haired Soul Reaper's general direction, tearing up dozens of buildings as he kept firing.

He stopped his aerial assault and stayed on-guard in case Natsu decided to emerge from behind again.

But he didn't do that. Natsu got out of the debris surrounding him, covered in his blood in several different places. His hood fell off his head, and his hair shielded his eyes. He looked at the damage caused by that last attack. His eyes widened in shock, and his mouth was left gaping open. "W-Why…? Why are there…" His hands shook with rage as he looked down, the hair casting a shadow over the furious look in his eyes. The sight he was introduced to consisted of a large amount of bodies.

Bloody bodies, to be more specific; bodies of the helpless people who tried to hide from the destruction outside.

Natsu gritted his teeth as he called upon his Dragon Slayer magic, fuelling it into his Zanpakuto and his entire body. "You _son of a_…" He looked back up at the Vasto Lorde through his bangs with the most ferocious pair of eyes he could muster. "They were just innocent people…! How could you do something so careless as to kill people who weren't involved in this?"

The fire increased in intensity.

"_YOU'RE GONNA PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!_"

Natsu launched himself into the air so fast he nearly broke the sound barrier. His flaming sword ran straight through the Vasto Lorde's left shoulder. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he tried to rip through the hierro by cutting across the Hollow's upper body.

But it didn't get far, because the beast grabbed the Zanpakuto with his free hand, pulled it out, and then fired a point-blank Cero into Natsu.

The blast tore through the Dragon Slayer's upper half of clothing, completely wrecking both pieces as he bled profusely. He was almost completely unconscious. He began falling from the air, the flames on his sword dissipating.

But the Vasto Lorde grabbed his right forearm before he fell and lifted him up close to his face. "Did you just say I was going to _pay_? Pay for what, exactly? What I did happens in a fight like ours; innocent people are bound to get caught in the heat of the moment. So to say that I am going to pay for collateral damage is just plain _arrogance_, especially coming from a Soul Reaper like _you_. Do you think Soul Reapers are some sort of god that everyone should look up to because they so happen to save them from souls like us?"

He brought Natsu closer to him. "You listen here: the fact that _I_, a Vasto Lorde, exists, is because the Soul Society didn't do their jobs properly. To reach my power, I needed to have consumed so many souls that the number could populate a large city alone. Look at you. Do you think you can save everyone who comes under attack from a Hollow? Wake-up call, _kid_! Those guys down there fighting my forces? Quite a few of them are dying because they aren't strong enough to protect everyone.

"Face reality, stupid Soul Reaper. In real life, people die. And there is _nothing_ you can do about it."

"SHUT UP!"

Natsu, glaring fiercely and fresh blood pouring from his forehead, smashed the Hollow in the face with his left hand with such force that it cracked, and it even sent the monster flying into the station.

"Of course I know that! What, do you really think I'm that stupid!? I know that I can't save everyone who happens to be attacked by one of you freaks! You completely missed my point!" He jabbed his thumb onto his bare chest. "This fight is between _you_ and _me_! Even you should know not to get other people involved in _our_ fight!"

The Dragon Slayer flames appeared once again around his entire being. "So how _dare you_ assume I'm just some dumbass who doesn't understand what they're doing?! Looks like I'll have to beat what I'm saying into ya!"

"_Little SHIT!_" The Vasto Lorde used Sonido with a charged Cero in his right hand and appeared behind the Dragon Slayer, firing as soon as he reappeared. The Cero tore through the station itself, leaving a gaping hole. "_You will die right here, do you GET ME!?_"

"No, I don't get you."

"Ah-! How!?" The Vasto Lorde turned and saw Natsu without any extra mark on him.

He couldn't stop the Zanpakuto cutting off his left arm in time.

"And I don't _want_ to get you!" Natsu stated defiantly.

The Hollow held his stump with his free hand, trying to stop the bleeding. "_Damn you…_ In all my years as a Hollow, I have never fought such a stubborn Soul Reaper that is as foolhardy and _stupid_ as you are!"

"Oh quit with the chit-chat," said Natsu as he beckoned his enemy forward with his left hand, taking a page from his new teacher with a cocky smirk. "We're not done until I say so."

He growled as he gripped his stump tighter, figuring he wasn't going to be able to stop the bleeding. He pointed his fingers at Natsu and fired several Balas.

The Dragon Wizard dodged as fast as possible and advanced for another cut. But the Hollow used Sonido and appeared instantaneously behind Natsu, kicking him in the ribs with a tremendous amount of force, pushing the pink-haired Soul Reaper far over to the other side of the town.

He pursued with unbelievable speed, and when he caught up he kicked Natsu back down into the ground, destroying the ground below again, leaving a crater in the concrete. He mounted on top of Natsu and was about to pound his face in.

But that was a big mistake.

"_FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!_"

The intense flames soared into the air as it burned the Hollow's mask to a crispy black, and completely annihilated the cape that (was) still attached to his armour.

The Hollow retreated back into the air, but Natsu followed him. He made several swings with his Zanpakuto, but only getting little cuts on his enemy, because he kept dodging.

"DIE!" The Hollow grabbed the sword, yanked it out of Natsu's hand and then threw it up high into the air. He prepared one last Cero.

"_FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!_" In retaliation, Natsu unleashed an amazing amount of fire upon the Vasto Lorde, skyrocketing downwards back into the crater created earlier, producing a massive shockwave that shook the very ground itself, and expanded the crater even more.

Natsu jumped out of the crater while the Hollow laid there in defeat. There was no way he was going to win. The Dragon Slayer was just too powerful for him.

_L-Lord Baraggan… I…failed you…_

Suddenly, the Zanpakuto came back down with the tip pointed towards the ground, and by chance, landed right in the centre of the beast's chest. His body burst into a brilliant glitter of light, signifying his passing. The battle was over.

The Vasto Lorde was dead.

Natsu retrieved and swiped his sword across, throwing off the blood of his foe, letting it stain the ground itself. He sheathed it. He looked around and saw that magic stopped being thrown around the place. He did a quick search to see if there were any remaining Hollows, but luckily they were all dealt with.

He landed back on the ground after the quick search, gradually losing consciousness as he walked slowly over to his real body. He pulled his badge out of his pocket, and when he reached his body, he placed it into his real pocket. He then placed his body down onto the ground - stomach first - in order to get back in without a hassle.

He ended up just falling back into it.

He got back up onto his feet, struggling to a great extent. He looked down and noticed that none of his injuries translated onto his real body. _That's good. Now Lucy won't worry about my condition._ But boy did he feel the pain. He could almost still feel the blood dripping off his forehead, like he was still in his Soul Reaper form.

_No time to worry about that; I gotta find Lucy…_ He then made his way to Lucy as fast as he could.

Lucy woke up and saw her partner Natsu standing just outside the alleyway she stayed in throughout the entire fight. She got up and slowly walked over to Natsu, and she realised that he didn't look well. "Hey, are you okay? You don't look too good."

_Damn it, I can't… _Natsu collapsed right in front of her. He couldn't stay standing for much longer.

Lucy panicked as she ran up to his unconscious body. "Ah, Natsu! Are you alright!? What happened!? Answer me!"

They left Oshibana that night to get back to Magnolia.

* * *

It was morning by the time Kagami arrived at Natsu's front door. She knocked first. When there was no answer, she called out, "Hey Dragneel, are you awake?" She grabbed the doorknob and found it was unlocked. _Well that helps._

She walked in and found him lying on the couch. "There you are. You're late for training." She pulled the red glove onto her right hand and pulled out his soul.

She was completely shocked to find how badly he was messed up. The blood dried up, but there was a lot of it. It completely stained all of his clothing.

"Oh no, this isn't good. How long have you been like this? What the hell happened to you?"

And then she remembered feeling a faint spiritual presence down at Oshibana Town.

"Damn it, you fought a Vasto Lorde, didn't you?" she asked rhetorically. He pulled him onto her back. "Come on, we're going back to my place to get you healed up." She left the house with Natsu using Flash Step, closing the door in the process.

Just as soon as she left, Happy came flying into the room with a greeting. "Morning Natsu! Do we have any fish today?" He stopped and looked at Natsu's body lying on the couch. "Come on; don't tell me you're still sleeping after that mission?" He flew down and pulled at Natsu's arm.

"You better get up Natsu! You promised me you'll buy fish today!" He pulled and he pulled, hoping that Natsu would wake up and call out his friend's fib. But all he accomplished was pulling Natsu's body onto the floor, sprawled everywhere.

The cat gave up. "Guess he's really out of it, huh? Oh well, I guess I'll go to the guild myself then. Again." He flew out of the house, closing the door behind him.

* * *

The Harvest Festival finally came around.

Lucy, Grey and Juvia were walking around, mingling with a few people (like Warren for example, who returned just in time for the big day) and checking out a few of the stalls (all of which Juvia wanted to do with just Grey and not Lucy).

"So then…Natsu's still out of it, huh?" Grey asked Lucy.

"Yeah, he is," she replied. "He must've fought a really powerful enemy when I was unconscious. I've never seen him so exhausted before." What happened when she and Natsu arrived back at Magnolia a few nights ago now was that she got Makarov to help her try to make Natsu feel better. But whatever they tried didn't really work, so Makarov just told her to let him rest and he should get better.

They hadn't seen Natsu since.

"I see… Man, he's gonna be devastated when he remembers today is the Harvest Festival."

_Rival, rival, rival, rival, rival, rival…_ Juvia repeated in her head.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something…" Lucy then remembered the Miss Fairy Tail beauty pageant. "Ah crap, I completely forgot!" She then bolted down to the guild, leaving Juvia and Grey alone (too bad Juvia didn't stay with her love for very long).

The pageant went underway just fine. However…

Laxus had just appeared after Evergreen - one of the members of the Thunder Legion - turned all of the contestants in the Miss Fairy Tail contest into stone. He had just taken all of them hostage. And now he was announcing the beginning of his plan.

"There's only one rule: whoever's left standing is the winner! It's a Fairy Tail Battle Royale!"

"Naturally if you want me to turn the girls back to normal you're going to have to defeat us first," Evergreen explained.

Bixlow said, referring to the rules and how the tournament would make the Thunder Legion the main targets, "But those aren't so bad. There's four of us and like a hundred of you guys." Bixlow laughed while his 'babies' said, "Lots of you, lots of you!"

"You have three hours and not a second more." Evergreen held up three fingers. "After that, these pretty statues will be reduced to dust."

"All of Magnolia will serve as the battlefield," Laxus continued. "I will begin when and _if_ you can find us."

Makarov was certainly not impressed. "Laxus, how could you?" He grew to a titanic size. "_I WON'T STAND FOR THIS!_"

"Now now, simmer down old man! It's all part of the Festival, right!?" He charged up his lightning, blinding his grandfather and everyone in the guild while laughing. "It'll be _fun_!"

"…can't see!" Macao muttered.

"Let the Battle of Fairy Tail, BEGIN!" was the last thing Laxus said before disappearing completely.

Once the flash of light settled down, Grey noticed the Guild Master's grandson was gone. "He disappeared!"

"So it's high-stake hide and go seek, huh?" Macao commented.

"Let's go!" Elfman yelled. "We gotta Man up and save our girls!" He then headed for the exit, and a lot of the other members followed his lead.

Alzack stayed behind to talk to Bisca's immobile body. "Bisca, hold on. I'll do everything I can to save you." And with that, he left too.

Only Makarov stayed behind. He growled. "You insolent_ brat!_" And then he himself made his way to the entrance. "Just wait! I'll stop you with my own two hands!"

But as soon as he reached the door, he ran into an invisible wall, stopping him in his tracks.

Grey turned back to see what happened. "What's wrong?" he asked the Master.

"An invisible wall…!" he answered while trying to push against it.

Grey ran back to see what was up. "Don't be silly Gramps, there's nothing here!" He picked the Master up, but he couldn't pull the old man out. "Man, what's the deal!?" He looked up and noticed something odd. "What's that floating above us?" He dropped Makarov down. "Looks like some kind of writing…"

"It must be one of Freed's enchantments," the Master deducted.

"What do you mean 'enchantment'?"

"It's a barrier formed by magic runes," Makarov explained. "Anyone who steps inside is bound by its rules and the only way to escape is to follow them."

"Any idea what it says?" Grey asked, not sure what the words said himself.

"Stone statues and anyone over the age of 80 years shall not pass."

"Whoever writes the rules wins the fight huh?"

"Perhaps, but enchantments like these take time to write. As such they would be useless in a one-on-one battle. Still as you can see they're quite effective if set up as traps."

"You're really stuck? You can't break through?"

"I'm afraid the rules of the enchantment are absolute."

"Well…I guess that settles it." He turned away. "It looks like we're going to have to go into this fight without you Gramps."

"I'm sorry."

Grey looked incredibly serious. "I won't show mercy even if Laxus is your grandson. He's gonna pay for this…" And then Grey ran off to fight as well.

Makarov turned away and thought to himself, _I don't know if Grey or anyone else in the guild is strong enough to beat him. Erza perhaps. …But not in her present condition._ He then noticed Reedus hiding behind a pillar. "I see you."

The fat wizard cowered behind the pillar further.

"What's wrong, Reedus?"

"I-I'm afraid Laxus is going to hurt me!"

"It's alright. Why don't you visit Porlyusica in the East Forest?"

"O-Oui?"

"She may have a potion to cure petrifaction."

"Oui!"

And then Makarov remembered someone. _Natsu… If he got serious he might just be strong enough to pull it off. But where is he? I haven't seen him all week._

He turned back to the barrier and noticed something. It said that Alzack, Jet and Droy were fighting each other. _What the…?_ A few seconds later, the runes changed and Makarov read them out loud. "The winner is Alzack. Jet and Droy, KO'd." He was quite shocked to see this new development.

Meanwhile, in the Kardia Cathedral, Laxus talked to himself. "Let's see how long you can endure this game of 'Fairy eats Fairy', old geezer…"

* * *

Kagami finally reached her hideout and entered the cave with Natsu still on her back. _I have to hurry and heal him. I may not have enough time._

When she finally made it, she didn't see Momo anywhere in sight.

_Of course, I told Momo to keep trying to recover her powers until later today. Fine then, I'll have to fix him myself. I'll take him to where I usually stay._ She used another Flash Step to reach her secret room that she made herself.

It was a plain bedroom. There was a bed up against the largest wall in the centre, turned sideways. In the corner was a small bedside table with a lamp powered by magic. Aside from those few ornaments, that was it.

She set him down on her bed. _Great, I'll have to clean my sheets after this…_ Dismissing that for another time, she prepared a healing Kido for Natsu's wounds. Her hand glowed green as she began the treatment. _Something was wrong with Magnolia when I made it half-way to this spot. It felt like some sort of barrier was placed around the entire town. I don't know what it is exactly, but I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen in the future._

She considered going over there once Natsu had recovered to deal with the situation herself. It wouldn't be a bad idea. After all, she had the power to stop everything that could happen. And not to mention the Dragon Slayer wouldn't be able to fight to the fullest. She couldn't let him go with injuries like his.

No, she couldn't leave him alone while she did his job either. He was the one who promised to take care of Magnolia. _He_ was the representative for the home of Fairy Tail, not her. She had no place in that town; she was a lone wolf, and she had been that way for centuries now.

Doing something as ambitious as saving the town while Natsu still had a chance to do it himself was out of the question.

"_Shame… Maybe if you joined Fairy Tail you wouldn't have a huge stick up your arse."_

She sighed to herself. "I guess I'll fix him up as best as I can then." And she continued to heal him while the Battle of Fairy Tail raged on.

* * *

**Soul Society, at the same time the Battle of Fairy Tail commenced**

Captain of Squad 10, Toshiro Hitsugaya, sat in his office chair doing paperwork. Rangiku was out, leaving her paperwork to him. Again. The stress just about killed him. Of course, if the Soul Society cut the paperwork down just a bit, then maybe he could have more breaks.

It pissed him off whenever his Lieutenant just went off somewhere; it felt like he could go crazy any day.

Once in a while he would wonder about his friend Momo. He hadn't seen her for weeks. He thought perhaps that she was either going on several missions or was on a really big one. It would explain why he hadn't seen her all this time, which was a shame in his opinion; he could use a distraction every now and then from the paperwork and have fun while taking the break.

A curious thing happened in his office this time. A hell butterfly found its way in, and it flew over to Hitsugaya's table. He looked up and noticed it. Putting his pen down, he held his right index finger up so that the butterfly could land and pass on information.

_I wonder why this is here,_ the Captain thought as he listened to the message. The contents were relayed to him as he listened in silence. But something caught his attention.

He flinched. _Momo hasn't returned from her mission yet? What is going on?_ The message continued. _Wait, me and Rangiku?_ He listened even more closely.

And he flinched again. "She lost her Soul Reaper powers!? How is that possible!?" He listened again, and found out the name of the culprit. _Natsu Dragneel… So that's the man who took her powers._ The message finished.

The Captain got up from his chair and made for the door. "I have to find Rangiku. We're going to 'Earth Land' tomorrow." _Momo, please be okay…_

* * *

End of Chapter 3

**(A/N: Oh yeah, I did another cliff-hanger. I'm feeling good about this. And no, I'm not going to apologise for cutting the suspense like that. You'll find out what the hell butterfly said later.**

**I just want to say that if you noticed me change 'Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame' to 'Brilliant Blaze', then that means I made an error in the other chapters before this one. My ears weren't acute enough, so I'm only fixing the problem now. If you notice several changes throughout the story, then that would be because of this reason.**

**Thank you once again Kuroyagi, and I will see all of you who are reading this in the next chapter. But stick around for my other stories that I am going to write. A couple of them need a new chapter, and some new stories are just waiting to see the light of day. Check out my profile page to see what I have in store for you all.**

**Later.)**


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